Sunday 21 October 2012
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time B
Isaiah 53:10-11., Psalm 32: 4-5. 18-20.
22. Rv. 22, Hebrews 4:14-16, Mark 10: 35-45
By his sufferings shall my servant
justify many, taking their faults on himself.
The Lord loves justice and right and
fills the earth with his love.
We shall have mercy from him and find
grace when we are in need of help.
Among the pagans rulers lord it over
them. This is not to happen among you.
First reading
Isaiah 53:10-11
The Lord has
been pleased to crush his servant with suffering.
If he offers his
life in atonement,
he shall see his
heirs, he shall have a long life
and through him
what the Lord wishes will be done.
His soul’s
anguish over,
he shall see the
light and be content.
By his
sufferings shall my servant justify many,
taking their
faults on himself.
Originally a prophet in the time of the exile and after wrote this passage about his own time and may well be about his or someone else's suffering. Because of his subversive prophecies he may well have been put into prison. Then with the coming of Cyrus and his liberation and return to Jerusalem he rejoices in the salvation of God. Christians when trying to understand the suffering and death of Jesus saw how this and other such passages applied very well to Jesus. He, the innocent one, had suffered unjustly but God had vindicated him in his Resurrection and his death and suffering offered in atonement for us won for us all the blessings that are with God.
____________________
Psalm
Psalm 32:4-5,18-20,22
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
The word of the
Lord is faithful
and all his
works to be trusted.
The Lord loves
justice and right
and fills the
earth with his love.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
The Lord looks
on those who revere him,
on those who
hope in his love,
to rescue their
souls from death,
to keep them
alive in famine.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
Our soul is
waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our
help and our shield.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord,
as we place all
our hope in you.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
____________________
Second reading
Hebrews 4:14-16
Since in Jesus,
the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the
highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For
it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our
weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we
are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the
throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are
in need of help.
Our High Priest is one who has suffered like us in every way but without sin. The Son of God knows human life and all it entails from the inside. He loves us with a divine human love and so we can approach him with confidence.
Gospel
Mark 10:35-45
James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you
to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’
They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your
left in your glory.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can
you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which
I must be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that
I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be
baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left,
these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been
allotted.’
When the other ten heard this they began to feel
indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You
know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their
great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No;
anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who
wants to be first among you must be slave to all. 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.’
A Church of
power or service?
Jesus did not come to establish a new religion. As numbers
increased, it was necessary to organize the community and clarify the faith.
The alternative was chaos and division. However, Jesus came to found a new
community.
We should never forget that the Church is a gathering in the Holy
Spirit of all who believe in Jesus. When the faithful gather then the Church of Jesus is visible. Believers gathered
around Jesus, always present with them, are the Church. The other Church
structures that we see are there to support and guide this ‘flock’. They are to
a great extent cultural forms.
The society of the world is based at best on self-interest and often
outright selfishness. Among the pagans, those who are rulers lord it over their
people. This is the cause of the oppression of the weak. The rich and powerful
use the weak for their own advantage. Jesus says, ‘Among you, this must not
happen’.
The society of believers is based on love, which manifests itself in
service. Jesus has shown us the way. He came to serve men and women with love.
Always at our service, he bore our diseases and was wounded for our iniquities.
Finally giving his life on the cross with a prayer of forgiveness, he died. The
authentic Church is the group of people who love Jesus and love one another.
‘This is my commandment: love one another.’ “Love one another and be
considerate. Outdo one another in mutual respect” (Rom 12:10). Believers come
together to celebrate the presence of Jesus with a fellowship meal in which he
gives them his own Body and Blood to eat and drink that they may become one
Body in him. There are to be no power structures, no first and second class
members, no distinction even between male and female but all are one in
loving fellowship with Jesus (Galatians
3:28).
The disciples did not understand. Today two of them try to steal a
march on the others so that they may rule in the Kingdom. The others are angry
at being out done. Jesus tries to explain his vision but their minds are
closed. Even at the Last Supper, they argued over who was the greatest. Peter
expressed their incomprehension: ‘you shall never wash my feet!’
After two thousand years have we understood? Do we not look for
positions of honour in the Church community? Do we not still – each in our own
way – want ‘to lord it over others’. Reformation begins with us. Are you
willing to follow Jesus and ‘get down on your knees and wash the feet of
others’? Are you willing to start with yourself and make the Church a community
of those who love and serve each other in Jesus’ name?
Father, Jesus
though mighty God came to serve us and give his life. May each member of the
Church humbly serve others with love.
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