Tag: power

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” | Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:46-52)

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

Jesus goes on to ask Bartimaeus what he wishes for him to do, and he replies, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus tells him that his faith has saved him, and immediately Bartimaeus sees and begins to follow Jesus on their way. Bartimaeus is prepared to receive healing from the Lord by his faith. First, he calls Jesus “Son of David.” Then the disciples lift him with encouragement to respond to Jesus’ call. And on encountering him, Jesus says that his faith has saved him. In response to that call, Bartimaeus’s sight is healed, and he begins to follow Jesus. Be attentive today to the ways the Lord calls you to him. What is your response?

“But he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.'” God, help me listen out for you today, whether I experience encouragement from someone or hear in my heart the words “What do you want me to do for you?” Strengthen my faith to hear you and receive your healing. Throughout the day, Lord, help me see your presence more clearly, making ready the way to enjoy eternal life with you. As Saint Peter says in the first reading: “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” | Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:32-45)

Jesus summoned [the disciples] and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes clear the path of discipleship. As Jesus tells them of his suffering and death in Jerusalem, James and John ask to be given a special role of power. Jesus teaches them that instead the greatness he exemplifies comes from serving others even to the point of suffering and death, as he predicts about his own coming passion and crucifixion. What Jesus says about being mocked, spit upon, scourged, and put to death James and John seem not to hear. But Jesus shows them that following him is about service, not the exercise of worldly authority. As Jesus teaches that following him calls for humility and serving others, he turns on its head the pursuit of worldly power and status. “If anyone wishes to be first,” Jesus says, “he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

God, give me the gift of wisdom to reject the all-too-subtle temptation to power and authority. As Saint Thomas Aquinas writes, the four typical substitutes for God are wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. Any one of these slips into my daily thoughts, often in the form of “If only I had enough” or “If only I were given.” With humility, help me call to mind the simple phrase from the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” And the super-substantial bread of the Eucharist, help me realize that what I hold in my hands and take in is the body of Christ in the service of love to our salvation. Saint Paul VI, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.