Tag: Son

“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.

“. . . and the last will be first.” | Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:28-31)

Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.”

Picking up from where yesterday’s Gospel left off, today’s passage begins as Peter responds to Jesus’ teaching about selling material possessions, giving to the poor, and only then following him to enter the kingdom of God here and now, and to be a partaker of eternal life. Peter affirms that he has given up everything for the sake of the Gospel and for Jesus, who then reveals something of the reward awaiting him in heaven: “there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters . . . who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.” In teaching that “many that are first will be last, and the last will be first,” Jesus encourages us to trust in God’s fidelity and promises and emphasizes the ultimate reward of eternal life in the age to come.

God, help me keep in mind Peter’s response to Jesus and to his encounter with the rich man: “We have given up everything and followed you,” Peter said. Having followed Jesus for the rest of his life, Peter trusted and hoped in the Lord. This is the same man who would later write these words of encouragement as our first pope: “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

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.

“You are lacking in one thing.” | Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:17-27)

Jesus, looking at [the man], loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

While Jesus is on a journey with the disciples, a man approaches him and wishes to know what he needs to do to gain eternal life. He tells the man to follow the commandments and lists them. The man responds, saying that he has done all these things since he was young. Sell everything you own, Jesus tells him, and give the money to the poor, and then come follow me so that you will have treasure in heaven. At this, the man goes away. After seeing the sadness in the man’s face as he walks away, Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples are astonished by this. “Who then can be saved?” they ask Jesus. He looks around at them and says, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” What are the things we hold onto that keep us from storing up treasure in heaven?

God, help me be attentive in obedience to your will, and give me the wisdom to know the limits of material wealth and the depth and breadth of my complete dependence on you for holiness. Jesus, as you said to the man who approached you, tell me also in what way I am lacking. Help me see this. You alone are the Lord; you alone make possible what is impossible for me. “Then who can be saved?” the disciples ask Jesus. Direct me, Lord, with your gifts of the Holy Spirit so that I know the path to my salvation and have the fortitude to follow it. Saint Augustine of Canterbury, 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.

“I am with you always.” | The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The last words of the Gospel according to Matthew, this passage gives us Jesus’ parting words with the disciples. Only eleven disciples are present since Saint Matthias had not yet been chosen. Although they had not yet seen the risen Christ, Matthew tells us that Jesus ordered the disciples to go to the mountain. On first seeing him after the resurrection, they nonetheless face interior doubts even as they worship him. At that moment, Jesus approaches them to reveal in words what he has accomplished through the resurrection. As he approaches, he tells them as the second person of the Trinity: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” For that reason, the disciples are able to go forth preaching and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the fulfillment of his earthly mission, Jesus is also able to say to the disciples and to all who believe in him, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

In the Gospel acclamation, we pray: “Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.” Father in heaven, guide me today according to your will. Help me call to mind throughout the day the last words of Jesus. Unbound by time, the risen Christ is able to say that he is with us always—”until the end of the age.” In obedience to you, he was able to approach the disciples and invite them to go out to all the world, teaching all that he commanded them. Give me the grace to do the same as I ponder the mystery of the Trinity and understand the relationship I am invited into union with. Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, now and forever!

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.