XXX Sunday of the Year

LORD, I WANT TO SEE

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

Readings for the XXX Sunday of the Year

In Pastor Steven Albertin’s office, hung a modern picture, a maze of colours and shapes. He knew this picture contained some profound artistic message but was unable to figure it out. 

One day, Adam, a kindergartener, came to his office, saw the picture, and asked: “Do you see what I see?” The pastor asked: “Do you see something in that picture? I don’t.” “Pastor, can’t you see Jesus hanging on the cross?”

The pastor stared at the picture, tried to find the image of the crucified Jesus hidden in the maze, but couldn’t. Slowly Adam moved his finger along the picture: “There, Pastor, is Jesus’ face, his arms outstretched on the cross.” The image began to appear. There hidden behind the colours and the shapes was the image of the crucified Jesus. 

Adam helped a “blind” pastor to see the suffering messiah.

Like Pastor Albertin, many of us fail to see Jesus in the maze of colours and shapes in our lives, in the suffering in our lives and around us. We need help to see him and to make sense of suffering.

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus helps blind Bartimaeus see! 

This healing appears at the end of the section on discipleship in mark’s gospel, in which the theme is suffering. Jesus thrice predicts his passion and death; each time his disciples fail to understand the meaning of suffering in his mission. They are blind. For instance, in the verses preceding this text, Jesus makes the third prediction, and James and John ask to sit beside him in his glory.

Mark uses the healing of Bartimaeus as a device to open the eyes of the disciples to the meaning of suffering. Mark contrasts the disciples with the blind beggar. Jesus puts the same question to Bartimaeus that he put to James and John: “What do you want me to do for you?” James and John wanted to advance themselves; Bartimaeus asks only to see.

Before the encounter with Jesus, Bartimaeus is blind, sitting, on the side of the way. After his encounter, he sees, gets up, and follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. Bartimaeus has understood the meaning of suffering in the life of Jesus and of a disciple. He is the paradigm of the ideal disciple.

Like Pastor Albertin in the story, like the disciples of Jesus, we fail to see Jesus as the suffering Messiah, we fail to understand that suffering is an essential part of discipleship. Like Bartimaeus, we sit by the side of the road of life and struggle to make sense of suffering. 

May we, like Bartimaeus, recognize Jesus passing by the way, and call out to him to heal us. May we cast off our cloaks, our false securities and follow Jesus on the way… because it is the only way to life.

XXIX Sunday of the Year

TRUE GREATNESS

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

Readings for the XXIX Sunday of the Year

When India became independent, the Defence Minister offered to make General Nathu Singh Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He declined since General K.M. Cariappa was senior and more eligible for the post. The Minister offered the position to General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja; he declined for the same reason. On 15 January 1949, General Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

Generals Singh and Jadeja knew that what matters is not where you sit, but where and how you serve. That is what Jesus teaches his disciples in the gospel… again!

James and John ask Jesus for places of honour in his kingdom. The episode continues the theme of discipleship in the Marcan gospel. Jesus has consistently challenged his disciples with the core values of the kingdom: they are to become like children, like servants; to give up all attachments; to be willing to take up their cross and follow – all this in the context of the passion predictions. After the third prediction, James and John ask for special status!

The other ten are indignant, perhaps, because the brothers beat them to the bargaining spot. Jesus instructs them again that the exercise of power in his kingdom is radically different from the exercise of power in earthly realms; that greatness is through humble service. Their model is Jesus himself. John in his gospel conveys the same message through Jesus’ servile act of washing the feet of his disciples.

The first reading, which is the fourth servant song, gives us another aspect of servant leadership: suffering. 

In the kingdom of God, true greatness comes through service and suffering.

Do I understand Jesus’ teaching on discipleship or do I clamour for position and power? Am I willing to be serve and to be “the slave of all”?

XXVIII Sunday of the Year

QUENCHING THE THIRST FOR “MORE”

Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

Readings for the XXVIII Sunday of the Year

In The Success Syndrome, Steven Berglas writes that individuals who “suffer” from success crave more. He cites the case of Dennis Levine, who was convicted of insider trading in the 1980s. Levine said when his income was $100,000, he hungered for $200,000; when he was making $1 million, he hungered for $3 million. Berglas comments: “People, who find that $200,000 did not make them happy, strangely never ask themselves why they thought $300,000 would make them happy… but keep craving for more.” 

None of us are big-league cravers, but all of us are constantly seeking more. This desire for “more” is at the heart of today’s liturgy.

The young man in the gospel comes to Jesus seeking something more. He has kept the commandments and led a righteous life. Deep down he knows something is missing. How can he fill this void? Jesus’ solution: “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor…; then come follow me.” 

But the man fails in his quest for “more” on three counts: 

First, he had many possessions. He is “rich” not because he is wealthy but because he is dependent on himself and his resources. 

Second, he lived selfishly. He was rich but was unwilling to share his resources.

Third, he fails to understand the incomparable grace of following Jesus. He is unlike Solomon, who (in the first reading) discovers that Wisdom is superior to all else in his life.

Like Dennis Levine and the young man, we constantly want more. 

How do I quench this desire for more: with people/ things/ gadgets and gizmos/ habits? What are my “possessions”? 

Today’s liturgy reminds us that our cravings can be satisfied only by God. Berglas’ prescription for a cure for the success syndrome: “What’s missing in these people is deep commitment/ religious activity that goes far beyond just writing a cheque to a charity.” What’s missing, in a word, is God!

Blaise Pascal puts this beautifully: “There is a vacuum in the heart of every man [and woman]; a God-shaped vacuum which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus”!

May I allow God to fill the vacuum in my heart; may I quench my thirst for more with him and his love.

XXVII Sunday of the Year

STAY COMMITTED

Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16 or 10:2-12

Readings for the XXVII Sunday of the Year

The elderly couple in the check-out line were talking about their upcoming golden wedding anniversary. The young cashier piped in: “I can’t imagine being married to same man for 50 years!” The wife replied: “Well, honey, until you can… don’t get married!”

This little exchange conveys what marriage is: two people—not only imagining—but also deciding and pledging to stay in a relationship forever. Marriage is a commitment. So are religious life and the priesthood!

This is the core of today’s first reading and gospel.

In response to the Pharisees’ question about the legality of divorce, Jesus argues that Moses’ permission for husbands to divorce (cf. Deuteronomy 24:1-4) was “because of the hardness of your hearts.” 

He, then, turns to the biblical ideal of marriage, as God intended it “from the beginning of creation”. In God’s plan (cf. first reading), marriage is not about male superiority/rights, but a communion of love between complementary partners who become one flesh. This oneness is not only a union of bodies, but also a union of minds, hearts, and wills.

This love reflects God’s love; it is a commitment with a beginning and no end. 

Love-commitment is difficult because it means loving the other as she/he is; it does not redesign a person. Pope Francis alluded to problems in marriage when he said: “Families have difficulties… will quarrel. Sometimes plates fly. And children bring headaches. I don’t want to speak about mothers-in-law… but difficulties are overcome by love.”

There are four p’s to overcome this mega “p”: be prayerful; be positive; be polite; be playful.

What will I do to stay committed?

On a lighter note, someone asked Henry Ford on his fiftieth wedding anniversary for his rule for marital bliss and longevity: “Just the same as in the automobile business: stick to one model.”