October 2009

We just heard in today Gospel, that Jesus cured the man who was physically blind. Jesus did that out of Love toward another person. Here we have to understand that those who were blind in Jesus’ times were outcasts of the society. During that time people thought that the blind person or his/her parents had to commit sins. Thus God punishes them with blindness.

When the blind beggar, Bartimaeus calls out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” the crowd tells him to shut up. But the blind beggar stands his ground. He refuses to be bullied into doing what the crowd wants. Instead he does what he knows is right.

My dear Sisters and Brothers

There comes a time in every life when, like the blind man in the Gospel, we can’t help ourselves. Not even our family or our best friend can help us. We are all alone. At times like this, we need to do what the blind man in the Gospel did. We need to turn to Jesus for help.

The model of how to do this is none other than Jesus himself. In His agony in the Garden, he had to turn to his Father for help. He did so by repeating over and over again: “My Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want but what you want.” His Father helped him, not by taking away his suffering, but by giving him the strength and courage to bear it.

God often chooses to help us in this way. In other words, God does not always answer our prayers in the way that we want. God answers them in a way that will be better for us in the long run.

Let’s illustrate with a familiar poem. It was found in the pocket of a dead Confederate solider and illustrate what we mean by being “better for us in the long run” It reads:

I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things…
I ask for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise…
I ask for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel need for God…
I ask for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things…
I got nothing I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.

“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.”

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ

Today’s Gospel again shows us how the disciples thought. It shows us what they expected. See, they misunderstood Jesus totally. They truly thought that Jesus would be the King of Israel as the nation’s leader. They did not grasp yet that Jesus in all His teachings tells them about heavenly kingdom. They are on lower level. They see Jesus as the one who will overthrow King Herod and stop cooperation with the Romans. They thought that Jesus is the one who will set the Israel free from foreign occupation.

Again, Jesus is very patient with all of them. He explains to them that there is a more powerful being, a more powerful kingdom. He tries to tell them that He did not come to establish His own kingdom, where he would be in a position to allocate authority; He establishes the kingdom of GOD.

See, Jesus does not abandon his ignorant disciples, but he teaches them of true Christian authority. There is no place in Christianity for an authority that lords it over others. Rather, it is a call to service.

See, Jesus does not lay down laws as some distant legislator. He points to His own life of service unto death as the model for the Christian life: “For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

To be a Christian means no more or no less than striving always to live and love as Jesus lived and loved.
The way we relate to and serve one another must mark us out in today’s society. We must not be like the Gentiles, like those people who never heard, or do not wish to hear of God’s ways.

God’s ways were reveled to us by many prophets and in the best way by Jesus Himself.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, As Christians we must start educate ourselves about God’s ways. We must start to understand what Jesus tells His disciples, and through them, what Jesus tells us. And one of that is: Love one another as I have loved you.

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” –from today’s Gospel

The Story of the rich man is two stories. There is dialogue between the rich man and Jesus, and after that follows conversation between Jesus and the disciples.

The rich man has kept all the rules; he did whatever was possible in his mind, to achieve the everlasting life. However, he knows that there is more. He seeks Jesus out for the greater challenge to go deeper in his walk with God. But his face falls when he learns the cost. Jesus 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.” Following Jesus is one thing; giving up his possessions is another.

The disciples at first see this test as too hard: if this is the standard, who can be saved? Jesus promises Peter, and us that one who has surrendered his/her old life in favor of the Gospel, of God’s teaching, will be rewarded a hundredfold with property, family, persecution and eternal life.

Did I say persecution? If we read beyond this passage, we find the disciples amazed and afraid at this speech. So Jesus once again explains what the son of Man must suffer.

Many times, we act the same way as that rich man did, and even as the apostles. We would say; I obey the rules, I pray, I really do not sin. But is that the true case? What about the peer pressure? How do we witness our faith, Jesus, in our daily life, in our work places, in our schools, in our society? Are we really doing what God asks us to do? Or are we sometimes ashamed of God’s rules and God Himself?

We are Disciples of Christ. Discipleship has its price, and we are all like the rich man who finds it set just a bit higher than what we expected to pay. Yes, we have to obey the God’s commandments. Yes, we have to obey the Church’s rules. We cannot be ashamed of our faith in our society, no matter what the price we will have to pay.
May God bless you and Mary always keep you in her prayers.