Jeremiah 31: 7-9
...They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide
them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall
stumble.
Somebody from our bible study group asked Fr. H (Hyacinth)
this question, "How come God chose Israel (Jewish) to be the chosen people
when they are so stubborn and stiff necked." The answer that Fr. H gave
him was so satisfactory and centered on the unsurpassed and infinite love and
mercy of God and so much like what I read and chanced upon in the Book of
Romans 11:33-36 as I read the 1st reading, " Oh, the depth of the riches
and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how
unsearchable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has
been his counselor?" "Or who has given him anything that he may be
repaid?" For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him
be glory forever. Amen." We tend to take for granted or worst we become
ungrateful in a way when we fail to realize the things that God has done for
us. It is undeniable that if we will just look very closely at our lives we'll
see and find out that the Lord has indeed done marvels for us. There are times
when we really have to strengthen our faith and hope for something we do not
see and wait with endurance. We may be experiencing right now, so many
unforeseen events but we should always wait and hope that the Lord will be
gracious and reveal His glory. There is some truth to the famous saying, “Easy
come, easy go.” If there are some things that we've been praying for and it
seems like nothing is happening we should never give up. Every good work should
be carefully planned and carried out to completion. Though the process may be
long and hard we can always count on God to stick with us through and through
and make it happen. If we are always manifesting in our lives the values of the
passion and death of Jesus then we are assured of the resurrection. For this
reason it is good to share this prayer of Mother Angelica in times of
temptation and whenever we are on the verge of giving up when undergoing trials
and tribulations. The prayer suggests that we focus on the 12th
station of the cross which is when Jesus dies on the cross while reciting the
following: Eternal Father, I offer you the 6 hours of agony, the death and the
piercing of Your Son’s Sacred Heart for… (mention the need or petition). This
is effective in the sense that the Lord looks down upon His Son, His agony,
death and the piercing of His sacred heart for our sake. Only to God can we
look with so much hope and confidence that the desert we are presently
encountering at the moment will be turned into a refreshing spring of water. We
may be suffering long enough under the heat of this life's difficulties but we
must not forget that God is able to turn everything into green pastures. It is
undeniable that if we will just look very closely at our lives we'll see and
find out that the Lord has indeed done great things for us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 126:1-2. 2-3. 4-5. 6 (3)
R: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with
joy.
1 When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion , we were like men
dreaming. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with
rejoicing. (R) Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great
things for them.” 3 The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.
(R) 4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the torrents in the southern desert. 5
Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing. (R) 6 Although they go forth
weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, they shall come back rejoicing, carrying
their sheaves.
Is there something more we still need to see in order to
believe? I guess, we've all seen enough no matter who we are, what we've been
through or still going through, how much we've known or learned and where we're
all coming from there's always this undeniable reality of a Supreme Being and
Power who is God. Except, of course for those stubborn atheists. But if we
believe so, then we should all be fully aware that this Almighty God is also
All Loving and Most Compassionate that He suffered His only Son to suffer for
our sake, what a privilege! Amen.
Hallelujah!
Hebrews 5:1-6
...No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called
by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified
himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: “You are
my son; this day I have begotten you”;...
The homily of Fr. Glenn in the TV mass with regards to the
gospel for today spoke of the name origin of Bartimaeus which was taken from
the words honor and dignity. He said that Jesus did not heal his blindness
alone but also restored his honor and dignity. He further said that all of us
have a mission and there is a need to distinguish this mission from ambition.
There is nothing wrong with ambition and said that there are 2 kinds of ambitions,
positive and negative. In order to recognize which of them is present he
spelled the word ambition in Tagalog as in ambisyon and enumerated the words
that can be found in it like, bisyo which means vice, isyo=issue and yosi if
read backwards which means cigarette. These words are things that can bring
about problems that give rise to malas=misfortune and sakit=sickness.The words
malas and sakit which are by products of a negative ambition can be turned into
something good if we have a positive ambition. Since these 2 words when
combined together can become concern which means malasakit in Tagalog. We are
called to develop a deep sense of concern for our fellowmen and at least start
with something in order to fulfill our mission. In today’s gospel the blind man
cries out to Jesus by the roadside upon hearing that Jesus is there. If we hope
to grow in our spiritual life then we can learn from Bartimaeus. We often times
are struggling with our vices and character flaws. Jesus wants to draw us
closer to Him. Bartimaeus showed us how to respond to this by calling out to
Jesus as Son of David. This signifies an acknowledgement and awareness of who
Jesus is. What keeps us from doing this is our struggle with our anguish and
our dependence on our own strength instead of immediately turning to God by
asking for the grace to grow in virtue. We can not change without God’s grace.
When he cried out to Jesus many told him to be quiet but he kept on crying out.
This is a beautiful point that we have to take into consideration. We should
not de discouraged or disappointed so easily. Another important thing being
pointed out here is the importance of family and friends that help us draw
closer to God. We need help from above and our friends and families to help us.
Bartimaeus has a strong spirituality because it is written that he immediately
followed Jesus despite Jesus' words, "Go your way" but he didn't go
his own way but followed Jesus. He was healed by word and in an instant the
moment Jesus spoke. During that time, the cloak signifies who you are. He is a
beggar and his cloak stands for everything he is and owns since he uses it to
place the money he gets from begging. Bartimaeus even left his cloak and rushed
to Jesus like he did not care about anything anymore for he found in Jesus
everything. Bartimaeus throws the cloak aside, this signifies a great desire
for Christ. We can not hide anything from God. In our lives, He sees the
motives in our hearts. If we go to Him, we will not be left unconsoled. We call
out to God to teach us faith and perseverance. There are times when what we
pray for takes a while. We must have the kind of faith that believes that Jesus
listens to our cries and answers our prayers. He makes us whole, holy and great
saints. Our faith should give us a new
sight about things. This new vision of life should make us see God so close to
us. The ways that we encounter Jesus today is no different 2000 yrs ago. We can receive Him body, blood, soul &
divinity in the Eucharist. We are in communion with Him through the sacraments.
As Catholics we perfect this new reality & wholeness of the presence of
Jesus in the sacraments where we’re given this great buffet of graces. We can make contact with Jesus in the sacraments.
If are we faithful to the sacraments and also in service to our brothers and
sisters then we encounter the living God in such a real way. Another similar
story that could somehow be compared to this is from Jn. 4:4 of a Samaritan
woman fetching water but when she learned about the life giving water which
Jesus spoke of she immediately left her jar of water when she realized who
Jesus is. She left behind her old life and follow the way of Jesus. On the
other hand there's this story of another unnamed blind man in Bethsaida , he was not healed instantly rather
slowly and gradually. He was healed by touch with a spittle and was sent home.
The evangelist, Mark where today's gospel is from recognizes the differences in
spirituality of the members of the community. He knows that there are people that
are quick in understanding things concerning matters of the faith and there are
those who are slow. But this doesn't mean that we kick them out of the
community. Mark sees the community as all sinners because ours is a flawed
community and it is for this reason that Jesus came. Peter whom we thought was
the first person who got it all right about Jesus as the Messiah denied Jesus
3x but he was not thrown out of the community. He proved himself true to his
faith by his succeeding actions which led to his dying on the cross upside down
but eventually earned him the honor of becoming the 1st pope of the Church.
Just like Peter we have to experience everything in order to fully understand
what the secret of the gospel of Mark is all about. For in the end, the Markan
community mirrors the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, the Paschal
Mystery which is the Markan secret. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 10:46-52
...Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
roadside begging. 47 On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 48 And many rebuked him,
telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David,
have pity on me.” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the
blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” 50 He
threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus said to him in
reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him,
“Master, I want to see.” 52 Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved
you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
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