33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B – Nov. 17, 2024

 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B – Nov. 17, 2024

Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews. 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32

 

Theme: Stay Vigilant at all Times

I was a Bible teacher at Mount Saint Mary Academy (Little Rock, Arkansas: 2019-2023) and Saint Augustine Catholic High School (New Orleans, Louisiana: 2023-2024.) Whenever I gave homework to my tenth-grade students, I always included a deadline to turn them in. Nothing can focus our mind like a deadline. However, today’s scripture readings talk about future events, such as the end time and the end of suffering, but with no deadline. In the first reading, Daniel comforts his fellow suffering Jews and promises them a good time to come soon, if not in this life, then in the hereafter. In the Gospel, Mark consoles his fellow persecuted early Christians with a message of hope, telling them that they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect of every place and time. In the second reading, the author of Hebrews reassures his readers that Jesus took his seat forever at the right hand of God and now waits until his enemies are made his footstool. None of these readings specifies the hour or day when all these events will happen. How can we stay focused if we do not know when our sufferings will end or when Jesus will return so that we share God’s glory in his kingdom? As we approach the end of this Liturgical Year B and prepare ourselves to begin the Advent Season, today’s liturgy exhorts us to meditate on our future events, God’s promise to end our earthly sufferings, and the return of his Son at the end of time. It exhorts us to stay vigilant and pray since we do not know the hour and day these events will occur.

   Today’s Gospel text is found in chapter thirteen of Mark’s Gospel. Understanding the context of this entire chapter is necessary to comprehend our text better. The evangelist opens this chapter by indicating that Jesus left the temple area where, according to him, spent two days (the first day, he drove out those who were selling and buying in the temple area [11:15-19]. The second day, he preached [11:27 – 12:44.]) On their way out of the temple, Jesus foretold them the destruction of the temple (vv. 1-2). Four of his disciples (Peter, James, John, and Andrew) asked him privately to tell them when the temple would be destroyed and what signs would precede that tragedy so that they would avoid being caught up in this horror (vv. 3-4). In his discourse, Jesus covers much more than what these four disciples expected to hear. (1) He goes beyond the destruction of Jerusalem and talks about the mysterious period that will follow this destruction, which seems to herald the end of the universe. (2) His concern is that his followers may lose faith in him during this challenging period. That is why he calls them to be alert against anyone who may come in his name to deceive them and draw them away from discipleship. (3) The disciples should not be alarmed when they hear of wars, reports of wars, earthquakes, and famines because these things must happen as they are the beginnings of the labor pains but not yet the end (vv. 5-8). (4) Then, Jesus outlines some tribulations and sufferings they may have to endure and exhorts them to persevere until the end to be saved. He reassures them of two things: The Gospel must first be preached to all nations, and the Holy Spirit will assist them in their trials (vv. 9-13).

In the text that immediately precedes our story, Jesus comes back to the disciples’ question concerning signs that will precede the destruction of Jerusalem. The only sign Jesus gives here is when they see “the desolating abomination” standing where he should not. Many Bible scholars, such as John J. Kilgallen, say that by the abomination of desolation, Jesus seems to point to the appearance of the Romain armies in places they should not be because where they will be, however, will be places of desolation and sacrilege. So, when the Roman armies start approaching, this is the time people need to flee to the mountains outside Jerusalem for refuge.[1]

After describing the sign that will precede Jerusalem’s destruction (abomination of desolation), Jesus then talks about the days after that tribulation, which will be marked by his second coming with great power and glory to gather the elect (those who will not let themselves deceived by the false messiahs but persevere amid all the trials). This is our text for this Sunday (vv. 24-32). It is followed by the last part of the chapter in which Jesus calls his disciples to be alert and watchful because nobody knows the day or hour (vv. 33-37).

Our Gospel passage is an apocalyptic narrative with imagery. It can be structured in two parts. In the first part, Jesus describes his second coming (vv. 24-27). In the second part, he uses a parable to explain the signs that will precede his second return and affirms that nobody, including himself, knows the day or hour of the end of time except God the Father only (vv. 28-32).

The first part of our Gospel text (vv. 24-27) begins with Jesus announcing the cosmic disturbances on the days that will follow the destruction of Jerusalem. “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” (vv. 24-25). Amid these cosmic disturbances, people will see Jesus coming in the clouds with great power and glory. The clouds indicate God’s presence. His coming aims to gather his elect from the four corners of the universe (vv. 26-27). These “elect” are those who will not let themselves be deceived by the false messiahs but persevere until the end during the trial times that will precede the destruction of Jerusalem, which presumably points to the end of time that Jesus foretold in length in the passage that immediately precedes our text (see Mk 13:14-23).

In the second part of our Gospel pericope (vv. 28-32), Jesus uses the imagery of the fig tree to discuss the signs preceding his second coming. He calls his disciples to learn from the fig tree. They recognize that summer is near when they see the fig tree’s branch become tender and sprout leaves. In the same way, cosmic disturbances will alert them of the nearness of his return. Then Jesus tells them that some people of his generation will witness his return. However, when it comes to knowing the day and hour, he clarifies that nobody except God the Father knows, not even himself.    

The setting of our Gospel passage is the oppression of the early Church during Mark’s time (before AD. 70). Because of the persecutions they went through, the early Christians were expecting Christ’s second coming in their own lifetime. That can justify Jesus’ words that Mark added in vv. 30-31: “Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” What does “all these things” refer to? It could refer not necessarily to the end of time as the audience of Mark thought but to Jesus’ coming passion, death, and resurrection. So, amid all the suffering the early Christians were going through, Mark here consoles them with a message of hope, telling them that they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect of every place and time.

This message of hope in our Gospel echoes Daniel’s prophetic oracle, which we heard in our first reading. The context of this passage is that the Israelites were occupied by the Syrians, who imposed Greek language, culture, and religion on them. Many of the faithful Jews resisted. They preferred to die rather than worship the pagan gods or violate the laws of Moses. Then, amid this great persecution, the author of the Book of Daniel uses a mythological language of speech with double and veiled meanings to transmit a message of hope to the persecuted Jewish community. He tells them that God will help them, if not in this life (for those who chose death), then in the hereafter. Referring to the last judgment, Daniel foretells, on the one hand, everlasting life in heaven for some whose names are “written in the book,” meaning the “elect,” and, on the other hand, everlasting punishment, “disgrace,” in hell for the wicked, their persecutors eventually.

What about us today? We are not an occupied country and are not under persecution like the Jews at the time of Daniel in the first reading. There is no Church persecution in our cities as it was in Mark’s time in the Gospel (however, many of our fellow Christians are still being persecuted in some countries where Christianity is not accepted; we pray for them in this Mass), neither do we expect Christ to return during our own lifetime. Then, what does our Holy Mother Church try to teach us today through these Bible readings? Indeed, our sufferings today are not to be compared to those of the time of Daniel and Mark.  However, many of us are going through a lot, such as illnesses, lack of jobs, injustices, and many other trials. Amid all our sufferings, today’s Scripture readings bring us a message of consolation and hope. God will save us, if not in this life, then in the hereafter, where we will be like the stars forever in heaven, shining brightly like the splendor of the firmament. At the same time, the wicked will experience everlasting punishment, “disgrace,” in hell, as Daniel describes in our first reading.   

This Sunday’s liturgy also wants to remind us about Christ’s second coming at the end of time. In our second reading, the author of Hebrews confirms this end when he says that Jesus, the high priest, “took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.” (Vv. 12-13). The Church proclaims Jesus’s death and professes his resurrection until he comes again, as we say at the Memorial Acclamation and the Creed.

The deadline helps people stay focused, but the Scriptures did not give us a deadline for the end of our trials, Jesus’ return, or the last judgment at the end of time. We are only invited to keep our faith in God, stay vigilant at all times, and pray that we have the strength to stand before the Son of Man (Alleluia Acclamation). Amen. 

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator

 

 

 

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[1] John J. Kilgallen, A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, (New York, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1989), 248.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B - November 10, 2024

 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B - November 10, 2024

1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

 

Theme: We Offer God what we Have and who we Are with Love and Gratitude

One day, one parishioner asked his parish priest: “Father, how much should I spend on the birthday present for my wife?” The parish priest said, “If you love her, then you know.” Another day, the same person asked his parish priest again, “Father, how much am I supposed to give my tithe to God in the Church? Is it ten percent of my income? Before or after tax? Am I also supposed to tithe from other incomes, such as gifts, tax returns, and benefits? His parish priest answered, “If you love God, then you know.” Today’s Scripture readings discuss our offerings or donations to God. Two poor widows, one in the first reading and another in the Gospel, are praised because they gave all they had with love and trust. Jesus did not acclaim the other contributors in the Gospel because they donated from their surplus wealth. These two widows remind us of Jesus, who gave all he had (his life) to take away the sins of the world, as the sacred author of Hebrews tells us in the second reading. Today’s Bible readings do not ask us to put all our savings in the collection baskets and expect miracles afterward. Instead, they focus on our love for God and our neighbors, which should motivate our offerings to God. When we realize how much God loves us and how worthy the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us is, we will know that we should offer God “all we have” and “all we are” with total love and gratitude.  

Today’s text comes immediately after the stories about one scribe who questioned Jesus regarding the greatest commandment (12:28-34) and that of the Question About David’s Son (12:35-37). It precedes the stories of the Destruction of the Temple Foretold (13:1-2) and the Sign of the End (13:3-8). In our Gospel passage, Mark continues the topic of total surrender and love of Jesus in discipleship. On the one hand, he shows that the rich and Jewish religious leaders cannot give up their wealth and earthly pride to follow Jesus. See, for instance, the stories of the Rich Man (10:17-31) and the scribes of today’s Gospel story. On the other hand, he speaks of the poor people who give all they have and follow Jesus. This is the case of the blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52) and the poor widow of our Gospel reading.

Our Gospel text is a narrative story structured in two parts. The first part shows Jesus denouncing the false piety of the scribes (vv. 38-40), and the second part presents one poor widow as an example of true piety (vv. 41-44).

Let us begin with the first part. Jesus is in the temple teaching. His topic is the scribes' false piety. He tells the crowd to be aware of their false piety and not imitate them. The scribes like to appear more religious in public, but, in reality, they reject Jesus and devour the houses of widows. Previously, in his response to the scribe’s question about the greatest commandment, Jesus gave him two greatest commandments: the love of God and the love of neighbor. Then, in our text, he shows that he is God in the flesh and the widows whose houses the scribes devour are their neighbors. As long as they do not accept him, Jesus, and continue to mistreat the widows, their piety remains false. Here, the Church wants us to become aware of false piety. Coming to Church and giving our offerings are good but not enough. What makes us pious in front of God and people is our “love of God and love of our neighbors. In other words, we are true Christians when we have intimate relationships with Jesus and our neighbors, brothers and sisters.

The second part of our Gospel concerns the offerings believers give to God. Mark tells us that Jesus sat down close to the treasury and observed how the people were giving their offerings. Many rich people offered large amounts of money. In contrast, one poor widow gave two small coins worth a few cents. Jesus praised the widow over the rich people because the latter contributed from their surplus wealth while the widow gave all that she had. Note that the focus here is not on what or how much they put into the treasury but on why and how they gave. The difference between their actions is based on their relationships with God. On the one hand, the widow represents the believers who know how much God loves them and are in a good relationship with God. On the other hand, the scribes represent those whose motivation is their false piety, the public image, but not an intimate relationship with God. Their actions toward God are shallow, just as their relationships with God are. This second part of the Gospel reminds us that Jesus sits in our hearts and sees what and how we give our offerings to God in the Churches. Our offerings show how much we appreciate all the blessings we receive from God, expressing our gratitude for God’s love for us. Therefore, we are called first to strengthen our relationships with God. When we realize how much God loves us and how worthy the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us is, we will know how to be generous to him in our offerings.

This widow of the Gospel echoes the widow of the story of Elijah we heard in our first reading. The context of this reading is this: A severe famine struck their country because of the lack of rain. This widow had a handful of flour and a little oil, enough for one day's meal for her and her only son; afterward, they would die from hunger. “When we have eaten it, we shall die.” (1 Kings 17:12). Suddenly, a starving stranger, Elijah, showed up and asked for food and drink, promising that God would provide them with more if she first fed him. The reading says that this poor woman did as Elijah had said. From the context of our story, she shared her last food with Elijah, not necessarily because she believed in miracles, but because the love of God for her was more than her life. She sees God through Elijah. She willingly accepted that she and her son stay hungry and die to save the man of God’s life. This total offering reminds us Jesus, who offered all that he had (his life) to take away the sins of many, as our second reading tells us. We learn that the “love of God and the love of neighbors” entails self-offering, even supreme sacrifice. Because of our intense love for our God and neighbors, we are called to willingly be ready to offer ourselves to minister to God’s people, even if it demands us to sacrifice our lives to save people’s lives.

May the liturgy of this Mass help us realize how much God loves us and how worthy the sacrifice of his Son on the Cross for us is so that, in return, we always offer him “all we have” and “all we are” with total love and gratitude. Amen.

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time B. Nov. 3, 2024

31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time B. Nov. 3, 2024

Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34

 

Theme: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

On November 1^st, we celebrated the solemnity of All Saints, and one day later, on November 2^nd, we commemorated All Souls. During the first celebration, we unite ourselves with all Saints, hoping to become saints one day. And in the second, we unite ourselves with our loved ones who have gone before us, showing our continued love for them and hoping to see and meet them one day when our earthly lives end. Thus, the liturgy of this Sunday Mass teaches us what we need to do now if we want to be called the “Saints” and to meet again our departed brothers and sisters in heaven one day. We must fear the Lord and keep his statutes and commandments, as Moses reminds his fellow chosen people in our first reading. In the Gospel, Jesus commands us to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths and also love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And the author of our second reading reminds us that Jesus saves all those who go to God through him. Let us always go to Jesus through the Sacraments and prayer, especially in the Eucharistic celebrations, where we listen to him in the Scripture and receive him in the Holy Communion.  

Our Gospel passage comes immediately after the Question about the Resurrection the Sadducees asked Jesus (12:18-27), and it precedes the two short stories: Question about David’s Son (12:35-37) and Jesus Denouncing the Scribes (12:38-40). The dispute between the Jewish religious leaders and Jesus is the context of today’s Gospel story. This dispute started when Jesus drove out the people who were selling and buying in the temple area. The chief priests and Scribes, being furious, started organizing themselves to find ways to put Jesus to death (Mark 11:15-19). One day, These Jewish religious leaders met Jesus in the temple area again and questioned his authority. This means they did not believe that his authority came from God (11:27-33). In his response, Jesus told them the parable of the Tenants (Matthew, who recounts the same controversy, recorded three parables in a row: the parables of the Two Sons [Mt 21:28-32], Tenants [Mt 21:33-43], and that of the Wedding Feast [Mt 22:1-14]) in which he revealed to them that because they do not believe in him, the kingdom of God was being taken away from them and being given to tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners, who believed in him and repented. The reaction of the Jewish religious leaders was to entrap Jesus with questions so they could (1) find legal reasons to accuse him and have him condemned and (2) they could ridicule him in public so the Jewish population would dislike him. Like Matthew, Mark lines up a series of three questions. The first question came from the unholy alliance of the Pharisees and Herodians. They asked Jesus whether paying the census taxes to Ceasar was lawful. The trap was that if Jesus said yes, it was lawful, all his fellow Jews would turn him down; and if he said no, it was not lawful, the Herodians, who were the collaborators of the Roman authorities, would accuse him to the Romans and have him arrested and condemned. But Jesus defeated them in his response: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God.” (Mark 12:13-17).

The second question came from the Sadducees. They do not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They made up a story in which a woman, by Moses’s law, ended up marrying seven brothers because all of them died without giving her a child. Their question to Jesus was to find out whose wife this woman would be in the resurrection of the dead. They intended to make the belief in the resurrection of the dead ridiculous and consequently embarrass Jesus in public. But Jesus silenced them in his answer. Jesus demonstrated that their question is absurd because (1) quoting the story of the Burning Bush, where God revealed to Moses that “I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob,” Jesus showed that since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died long ago and if they are not living in heaven, God would have said to Moses, “I was God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Instead, God says, “I am,” to mean they live in heaven. So, God is not the God of the dead but the living. This is to confirm that there is the resurrection of the dead. (2) The elects have eternal life in heaven, so marriage is unnecessary (Mark 12:18-27).

The third question came from one of the scribes, whom the Pharisees chose to represent them according to the context of Matthew’s version. This is our Gospel story. The objective is the same: to shame Jesus in public and have the Jewish population dislike him.

Our Gospel text is a narrative story. It can be structured as follows: The scribe's question in v. 28 can be considered an introduction. Vv. 29-34a is the body of the text. It contains two movements: (1) Jesus’ answer (vv. 29-31), and (2) the scribe’s appreciation for Jesus’ wise answer and Jesus' comment on the scribe for his excellent understanding (vv. 32-34a). V, 34b, the narrator’s final comments, concludes our story and the series of trapping questions.

Mark begins this story by mentioning that the scribes who asked Jesus the question witnessed the previous controversies between Jesus and his predecessors (the unholy alliance of the Pharisees and Herodians and the Sadducees) and admired how well Jesus had answered them. Mark does not specify the nature of his admiration for Jesus. Perhaps his esteem for Jesus is that since Jesus defeated his predecessors and escaped their traps two times, he needs to demonstrate his ability and come up with a complicated tripping question so as not to fail like them. His question is this: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (V.28).

While the question of the scholar of the law (scribe) is to find out just the first of all the commandments, Jesus gives him two commandments instead. He says, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Vv. 29-31). Jesus took the first commandment from the book of Deuteronomy, the passage we heard in our first reading. Moses presented his fellow Israelites with the commandments, statutes, and ordinances to observe in the promised land they were about to enter. Moses said, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Mark reworded it. He replaced “being” with “mind,” and he added “soul.” The second commandment, the love of neighbor, is found in Leviticus 19:18.   

The scribe’s question really means this: looking at the entire corpus of Jewish law, which law gives coherence to all the rest? Which law from which all others flow and draw their validity? The trap is that for all Jews, there is not one law that can be the greatest because all laws are essential. In his answer, Jesus says, the first commandment is the one that says, God is the only Lord and that all people must love him with their entire heart and soul and mind and strength. For Jesus, this law is the greatest because it gives coherence to all the rest. Every law is meant to encourage the love of Yahweh. Their God. To this first law, Jesus joins the second, which is the love of neighbor. Therefore, the entire corpus of the Jewish law must encourage the love of God and the love of neighbor.

Let us try to analyze these two greatest commandments. We start with the love of God. What it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (1) The Greek word for heart is kardia; it can be understood as the seat of emotions or affections. So, when Jesus commands us to love God with all of our hearts, he asks us to cultivate our affection and emotional attachment to him. (2) The “soul” is our spiritual nature. Then, to love God with all our souls means that we need to seek spiritual union with him, a personal relationship with God, and intentional discipleship. (3) The “mind” (in Greek, dianoia) is an intellectual endeavor. So, loving God with all our minds involves intellectual knowledge. Hence, the Church encourages us to study the Bible to understand what we believe to be true. I invite you to attend my virtual Liturgical Weekly Bible Study on Sunday Mass readings (for more information about my Bible Study Classes, email me at nganduleon2001@yahoo.fr.) (4) The “strength” is omitted in Matthew’s version. It alludes to physical energy. We should use our physical strength and energy to love our God.

Second, next to the first commandment, Jesus adds a second one: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” A neighbor is not just someone who lives next door. Instead, neighbors in the biblical context include our brothers and sisters around us and far from us who need our spiritual, emotional, material, and financial help. Next to the love of God and neighbor, there is a third love that many of us do not pay attention to when we read this passage. It is “as you love yourself” attached to the love of a neighbor. The model for the love for our neighbors is the love for ourselves. One cannot love others if the person does not love himself or herself. To love oneself means being capable of forgiving oneself, reconciling with oneself, and giving oneself a second chance. Once we love ourselves, we can do the same for our neighbors.

Unlike the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees, who preceded him in this series of trapping questions to Jesus, the scribe responds favorably and acknowledges Jesus’ wise answer. For this, Jesus praises and tells him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (V. 34). I chose this statement of Jesus as the theme for my reflection because it contains the main lesson our Holy Mother Church teaches us today. For Jesus, the scribe makes one step closer to the kingdom of God by acknowledging and understanding that all commandments must promote and encourage the love of God and the love of neighbor. He is closer but not yet in the kingdom of God. What remains to him to be in God’s kingdom, then? Now, he needs to recognize that the Lord, the God of Israel, the first commandment talks about, has come in the person of Jesus himself. Therefore, the statement to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your souls, all your mind, and all your strength” now means that he should love Jesus with that same total commitment, believe in him, follow him, and start a personal relationship with him. There is a similarity with the story of the Rich Man Mark told previously (Mk 10:17-31). The rich man, who wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life, claimed to have observed all the commandments from his youth. Jesus loved him, as he did with the scribe of our Gospel, and told him to do one more thing he lacked: to abandon his possessions to start a relationship with Jesus and become his disciple. Unfortunately, he went his way sad because he loved his wealth more than discipleship.

The Church teaches us that knowing God’s commandments and the Church’s precepts is good; observing them is even much better. However, when we know and observe the commandments alone without discipleship, we are close to the kingdom of God but not yet in. To inherit eternal life, we are called to a further step, which is to follow Jesus and begin a personal relationship with him. It is not logical to think that we can go to heaven by just living a good life but without a personal relationship with Jesus. Note that in heaven, we will be in intimate communion with Christ. So, it does not make sense that we want to go there, and in the meantime, we reject Jesus, who is God himself, who has taken flesh and lives among us. Thus, to love our Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths means to love Jesus, who is “God-with-us.” Failing to love Jesus like this is a failing to observe the greatest of the commandments. And failing to keep the greatest of the commandments is failing to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God.

As we want to become saints and meet our loved ones in heaven one day (see the solemnity of All Saints and the commemoration of All Souls we celebrated on November 1^st and 2^nd,) today’s liturgy reminds us to love Jesus, who is God in the flesh, with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Let us come to Jesus because, as our second reading tells us, he is able to save those who approach God through him since he lives forever to make intercession for us. Amen.  

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

  

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time B. October 27, 2024

 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B. October 27, 2024

Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52

Theme: What Discipleship Entails

In our first reading, Jeremiah prophesizes to the remnant of Israel that one day, God will bring them back from their exile in Babylon to their land. The author of our second reading points out that Jesus is the high priest forever appointed by God to sacrifice his life to forgive our sins. In the Gospel, Jesus is at the end of his long trip to Jerusalem, where he will be sacrificed on the cross to save us from the exile of sins, fulfilling what is said in our first and second readings. We need Jesus to open our spiritual eyes as he did with the blind man Bartimaeus in our Gospel so that we might see his Passion, Death, and Resurrection as the Paschal Mystery of our salvation and to learn from Bartimaeus what discipleship entails.  

It is with purpose Mark placed our Gospel passage immediately before the story of Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem (11:1-11) and after the stories such as the three predictions of Jesus’ Passion (Mk 8:31-38; 9:30-37; 10:32-45), the Blessing of the Children (10:13-16) and the Rich Man (10:17-31). With Bartimaeus calling Jesus “Son of David,” Mark prepares his readers for Jesus’ messianic entry into Jerusalem, where the crowds will cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” (10:9-10). The healing of Bartimaeus’ eyes starkly contrasts the spiritual blindness of Jesus’ disciples, who, even though Jesus announced his Passion to them three times, could not see Jesus’ cross as the way to salvation. The people who rebuked Bartimaeus, preventing him from coming to Jesus, echo the disciples who rebuked the children not to go to Jesus (see 10:13-16). The rich man could not give up his riches and follow Jesus (see 10:17-31), but Bartimaeus throws aside his cloak, representing the only valuable thing a poor can have, and follows Jesus with joy. In brief, through Bartimaeus’ story, Mark teaches his readers what discipleship involves.   

Our Gospel text is a narrative story through which Mark teaches his readers what discipleship entails. Discipleship is a determination to initiate a personal encounter with Jesus through prayer. (46-47). It entails perseverance in prayer. It requires using spiritual ears, as Jesus did, to hear the people of God who are in need (v. 49a). It is becoming Jesus’ mediators who tell people, encourage them, and help them to go to God and start their personal relationships with him (v. 49b).  Discipleship requires getting rid of anything (sins and possessions) that obstructs the personal relationship with God (v. 50). Discipleship is following Jesus not temporarily but permanently (v.52).  

(1) Discipleship entails a determination to initiate an encounter with Jesus through prayer. The narrator depicts Jesus’ disciples and the large crowd in movement, walking on the road and following Jesus, who leaves Jericho and is heading to Jerusalem, where his Passion, Death, and Resurrection will occur. He describes Bartimaeus as a blind man and beggar who is not moving or walking on the road like the crowds but is seated by the roadside. Eventually, he hears the crowd's noises and learns that Jesus is passing by. He decides to initiate an encounter with him. Due to his lower social status and being poor and blind, crying out to catch Jesus’ attention is his only option. Crying out here stands for prayer. So, Bartimaeus uses prayer to initiate his encounter with Jesus. In his prayer, Bartimaeus calls Jesus using Jesus’ divine title: “Son of David.” The Son of David is the king the Jews were waiting for to come and rule once more over the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, which immediately follows our story, the crowds welcomed Jesus under this Davidic title: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-10). So, by calling Jesus “Son of David,” Bartimaeus confesses his faith that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, who comes in the name of the Lord to redeem the world. This part of the Gospel teaches us that we must be determined to initiate our encounter with God through prayer. To be Jesus’ disciples means we must be the men and women of prayer. Our prayers must demonstrate our faith in Jesus as the Son of God who willingly sacrificed his life on the cross to save the world.

(2) Discipleship entails perseverance. Many people rebuke Bartimaeus and force him to be silent. Rebuking here involves physical and verbal abuse. I guess these people used words such as “Be silent, you stupid! You do not realize that Jesus is far away from you, and with all these noises, he can never hear you. Just shut up.”  But the more the people rebuke him, the more he cries out to catch Jesus’ attention. The louder the crowd’s noise is, stifling his vocal prayer, the louder he cries out. The more he realizes that Jesus is far from him (as Jesus and all people are moving forward) and he is seated by the roadside, not moving at all, the more he persists in calling. Here, our Holy Mother Church teaches us that discipleship entails perseverance in our prayer to God. These crowds who rebuked and silenced Bartimaeus stand for people around us or far from us who do not love us and situations such as illnesses and unemployment, which we face daily. All sufferings we go through can constitute obstructions to our discipleship. In this part of the Gospel, our Holy Mother Church teaches us not to relinquish our relationships with God no matter what we face. The more we realize that people or difficult situations try to force us to disconnect from God, the more we must reinforce our prayer life to stay connected to Jesus.

(3) Discipleship involves using spiritual ears, as Jesus did, to hear people in need. Considering the crowds’ noise, the distance between Bartimaeus and Jesus, and the people's rebuking and silencing Bartimaeus, there is no way that Jesus hears the vocal cries of this blind man. However, Mark tells us that Jesus heard, stopped, and ordered the people to call Bartimaeus to come to him (v.49a). Jesus did not use his physical ears but his heart to hear Bartimaeus’ prayer. There are many people around us and abroad who cry out every day for different needs. If we use our physical ears, we cannot hear them. The Church exhorts us to imitate Jesus and use our hearts to hear and assist them. Parents are called to use their hearts to hear and discern their children's concerns and help them accordingly. Spouses should use the love from their hearts to hear each other’s needs. Let us use our hearts to hear what God speaks to us and observe them. To be Jesus’ disciple involves hearing people’s cries and God’s calls from our hearts.

(4) Discipleship is telling people, encouraging them, and helping them to go to God and start their personal relationship with him. Jesus commands the people to call Bartimaeus to come to him. Can we imagine if the people Jesus asked to call Bartimaeus were the same who rebuked and silenced him before? Jesus continues to command us today to call the “Bartimaeus” of our time to go to him, including those we “rebuke” or do not get along. Pay attention to the three words the people in our Gospel employed to call Bartimaeus: “Take courage; get up, [Jesus] is calling you.” (V. 49b). First, “Take courage.” Our blind man must have been tired as he kept calling out amid the noisy crowds. The first word to him must necessarily be the encouraging one, “Take courage.” We have our brothers and sisters in our families, parishes, neighborhoods, and societies weakened by the different trials they go through daily. Let us minister to them with words of encouragement.

Second, “Get up.” The narrator already told us that Bartimaeus was seated by the roadside, not walking (see v. 46.) The seating position explains that because of his blindness, he could not see the road. Consequently, he could not walk alone like everybody. So, by asking him to get up, the people probably held his hands and helped him to get up and stand on his feet. In the spiritual sense, people who are not in a one-on-one relationship with God are spiritually blind and “seated by the roadside” since they cannot see and walk on the road that leads to eternal salvation. The Church reminds us here that our mission is to help this kind of people to get up and start moving spiritually. As long as they remain seated spiritually, they will never reach their destination, which is the kingdom of heaven. We must help them to get up and start “walking on the spiritual road” by accepting God’s call.

Third, “[Jesus] is calling you.” Bartimaeus did not personally hear Jesus calling him. The people in the crowd let him know that Jesus heard his cries and was calling him.  Jesus continues to use us as mediators between him and our brothers and sisters. Likewise, he uses our fellow humans as intermediaries between him and us. As Jesus’ disciples, our mission is to bring Jesus’ words of love and calling to our brothers and sisters, letting them know that Jesus loves and calls them. Likewise, let us accept our fellow humans who bring God’s Word to us and remind us that God loves and calls us.   

(5) Discipleship entails removing everything that prevents us from following Jesus. When Bartimaeus learned that Jesus was calling him, he did three things: He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and went to Jesus. “Cloak” can have two interpretations. First, it stands for sins; second, it represents the only valuable thing a poor could have in Jesus’ time. “Springing up” is the expression of joy. And “coming to Jesus” is the positive response to Jesus’ call. So, here, Mark informs his readers and us that Bartimaeus said Yes to Jesus’ call. Before he went to him, he abandoned all his sins and riches, which could prevent him from “springing up,” expressing his joy when coming to and following Jesus. In the story of the Rich Man, Mark narrated previously (see Mark 10:17-31,) we saw how the rich man walked away being sad because he could not do what Bartimaeus did here in our Gospel passage, giving up all his possessions as a condition to follow Jesus. From our baptism, we are all called to follow Jesus. The Church reminds us to learn from Bartimaeus and do the three things he did: Let us “throw aside our cloak” of sins and any possessions that prevent us from “springing up” when we go to Church (especially on Sundays) and when we follow Jesus by practicing charity works. Discipleship entails conversion and following Jesus with joy.

(6) Discipleship means following Jesus not temporarily but permanently. Bartimaeus arrived when Jesus was. The conversation starts. Although Jesus knew what Bartimaeus needed, he still asked him to tell him what he wanted him to do for him. This means God knows our minds and hearts but still waits for us to tell him what we need. This is what prayer is about. The blind men did not ask for money or possessions to be rich; instead, he asked for the sight: “Master, I want to see.’ (V. 51). “To see” is all this blind man needs. What does he want to see exactly? Well! He wants to see the road of Jerusalem, which leads to the Paschal Mystery of our salvation, so he can also walk on it. Jesus heals him and gives him an option to go his way. However, he did not go anywhere except following Jesus on the road, meaning he became his permanent disciple. This last part of our Gospel story teaches us always to ask Jesus to open our spiritual eyes to see Jesus’s Passion and Death culminate in his glorious Resurrection. We also want to see how our calling as Baptized Christians is the way of the cross that leads to eternal salvation. To be Jesus’ disciples is a commitment to follow him not temporarily but permanently.

May the liturgy of this Mass open our eyes to see and accept that discipleship entails a constant prayer life even amid sufferings, using our hearts to hear people’s cries, and becoming Jesus’ mediators who encourage people to go to God. May this Eucharistic celebration open our eyes to abandon anything that prevents us from following Jesus permanently and enthusiastically. May the Word of God we heard and the Holy Communion we will share soon enable us to see and accept that discipleship is the way of the cross that leads to eternal salvation. Amen.

    Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time B. October 20, 2024

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B. October 20, 2024

Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

 

Theme: We, Christian Missionaries, are Called to be the “Servants” and “Slaves” of All

Today is World Mission Sunday. In prayer, we remember all missionary women and men who preach and live God’s Word worldwide. From our baptism, we all are missionaries as we are called to carry out the mission of the Church. Today’s Scripture readings teach us that to be disciples or Christian missionaries, we must be the “servants” and “slaves” of all. In our first reading, Isaiah prophesies about a servant who will suffer and give his life to justify many and bear their iniquities. Our second reading reminds us that Jesus was tested in every way, yet without sin. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples and us the condition for discipleship or missionary life: To be the “servants’ and “slaves” of all.

Today’s Gospel passage and the Third Prediction of Jesus’ Passion (10:32-34) form one literary unit. Mark places it between the story of the Rich Man (10:17-31), which we heard last Sunday, and that of the Blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52), which we will read next Sunday. The context is that Jesus and his disciples are on the journey to Jerusalem, where Jesus will suffer his Passion and death and will resurrect after three days. In Mark 10:32-34, the passage that comes immediately before our Gospel story, Jesus announces these three events (his Passion, Death, and Resurrection) to his disciples for the third time. Then, in our Gospel passage, he prepares them to understand the conditions for discipleship. Note that in the Gospel of Mark (also in Matthew), Jesus announced to his disciples his Passion, Death, and Resurrection three times on their journey to Jerusalem. All three stories follow the same pattern. (1) Jesus announces his Passion, Death, and Resurrection; (2) his disciples react by objecting or misunderstanding him or ignoring him; (3) Jesus teaches them a lesson based on their reactions.

Our Gospel text is a narrative story structured in two distinct movements. The first movement captures the dialogue between Jesus and the two sons of Zebedee about their request (vv. 35-40). The second movement is Jesus' teaching to all disciples regarding the conditions for discipleship (vv. 41-45).

The first movement of our story commences with an utterly open-ended demand from James and John: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” (v.35). This demand is their reaction to what their Master had previously told them. Jesus announced to his disciples privately that in Jerusalem, where they were going, he would be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, condemned to death, but after three days, he would rise (vv. 32-34). Our Gospel story picks up here. Upon hearing this, the two brothers come up with their request. In reply, Jesus says, “What do you wish me to do for you?” (v.36). This is a profound question. Humanly speaking, I believe Jesus expected these two disciples to tell him something like how they could help and support him in his distress or how they could prevent this tragedy from happening. James and John are not concerned about their Master’s suffering but about their future. They asked Jesus for privileged places in his glory. In his response, Jesus first explains to them that their request involves “drinking the cup” he drinks and “being baptized” with the baptism with which he is baptized. This means they must first accept the cross, which is the only way leading to the glory they request. Second, Jesus lets them know that he does not assign honored places in his glory since these places are “for those for whom it has been prepared.” (V. 40). This means the privileged places in Jesus’ glory are already assigned to those who, amid suffering, will remain his disciples until the end.

The disciples reveal their selfish motivation for discipleship. They have been following Jesus not for service but for reward. This first part of the Gospel is an interpellation to us, too. What are our motivations for following Jesus? We should not follow Jesus just for him to do us favors. We have accepted to be baptized (and to have our children baptized) not solely because we want to go to heaven but to become Christian missionaries where we live to help others go to heaven with us.

Jesus asks us, as he did to his disciples, “What do you wish me to do for you?” Instead of being selfish like James and John by asking for our own privilege in his glory, let our response show him our sympathy. Our response can be, for instance, “Lord, let us help you through many people around us who are distressed; Lord, tell us how we can assist your Church; Lord, show us how we can be good missionaries where we live.” The sacred author of our second reading tells us that Jesus’ glory is meaningful and accessible because he willingly accepted to sympathize with our weaknesses and to be tested in every way, yet without sin. In our turn, let us also sympathize with him, who shares his sorrow with us today by sympathizing, supporting, and assisting our brothers and sisters who go through a lot where we live.   

The second movement of our Gospel is Jesus’ teaching to all the group. James and John were not the only ones who did not sympathize with Jesus; the other ten also did not do. They became indignant at James and John because they, too, had the same ambitions. They were angry about why the two brothers requested only for themselves but not for the whole group. Jesus now delivers significant teachings on discipleship and service to all twelve disciples and us. He tells us that whatever authority we exercise must be rendered as a service, not for personal aggrandizement, but for others. In our missionary works, we must be the “servants” and “slaves” of all (vv. 42-44). He calls us to imitate the type of his authority: “[He] did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (V.45).

May the liturgy of this Mass enable us to become the “servants” and “slaves” of all in our missionary work in our Churches, families, and wherever we live. Amen.   

   Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD

SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator &

Retreat Center Director