Year: 2024

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Gospel: Mark 10: 46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
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.”
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Space and Sight was a book written in the 1960’s, documenting the first people in the world to undergo cataract surgery. All of the patients were blind from birth.

Suddenly after surgery, they could see.

While their first moments of sight were truly inexplicable – how can you put into words the moment your world transitions from total darkness into light? – some of the patients’ longer-term reactions were surprising.

Many fell into depression. The world was abruptly complex, filled with motion, color, distance, shapes, faces, and visible forms of human suffering.

One girl locked herself inside her room for two weeks, refusing to open her eyes. 

Ironically, those patients were faced with the very same question after surgery as they were before: “Do you want to see?”

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In today’s Gospel, a blind man named Bartimaeus is healed by Jesus. Now he, too, can see.

Mark does not tell us how Bartimaeus reacted to the instantaneous rush of light and color, only that, “he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.”

Some of the first places that Bartimaeus would’ve seen were the outskirts of Jerusalem, a bloodthirsty crowd, the Lord who healed him nailed to a tree, a garden, and an empty tomb.

Things which would forever change him not only physically, but also spiritually.

This also begs the question, “Like Bartimaeus, do we want to see?”

Do you want to see the Lord in your neighbor – hungry, tired, and thirsting for love? Do you want to see your own imperfections and need for conversion? Do you want to see the path of surrender paved by faith and walk it?

“Do you want to see?”

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“Yes, Lord. Give us eyes of faith, the grace to accept what appears, and the courage to act on it.”

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Image credits: (1) Warby Parker (2) Bartimaeus, LinkedIn (3) eofoptical.com

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Gospel: Mark 10: 32-45

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, 
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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As a priest, I’ve been invited into some of the most celebratory moments in people’s lives.  

I think of standing at the altar, witnessing young couples exchange their vows before God… Baptizing babies… Offering children their first Communion… and so on.

But I’ve also been there for the darker, more difficult days, when people drink from the “cup” of the Lord as described in today’s Gospel.

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Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified. Meanwhile, he overhears James and John arguing about who will be the greatest in his kingdom.

So, he pulls the disciples aside and asks them, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” … Ignorantly, James and John respond, “We can.”

They have no idea that this “cup” of the Lord entails his suffering and death.

Yet, in a matter of years, they will, in fact, taste its bitterness.

James will be the first of the Twelve to be martyred. Meanwhile, his brother, John, will be the last, dying in exile nearly six decades later.

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How many of us have tasted the “cup” of the Lord, sharing his suffering in faith?

I think of parents who watch their children struggle with addiction, depression, or anxiety. Yet they never leave their side… You have tasted the “cup” of the Lord.

Those who care for an ill or aging spouse in love…

Those who persevere in spite of dryness in prayer…

Families who stand by the graveside weeping… yet turn to the Lord in hope. You have tasted the “cup” of the Lord.

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This is the paradox of our faith. We believe that down is up; that up is down; that the path to glory is paved in suffering; that death leads to life. 

May all who taste the “cup” of the Lord persevere, trusting in Christ’s promise, “Behold, I am with you always.”

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Image credits: (1) Jardins Liorzou (2) Cru (3) Pat Cross, National Catholic Register

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Gospel: Mark 10: 28-31

Peter began to say to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Master, we have given up everything and followed you.”

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On the surface, Peter’s right. 

Unlike the rich young man, who walks away from Jesus “sad, for he had many possessions,” Peter and the others have left their boats, their homes, even their families, in order to follow Jesus.

That’s a huge sacrifice.

But the Christian journey – yours and mine – comes at more than just a physical cost; we also must part with things we carry in our hearts.

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For example, Peter and the others are still carrying their pride.

Just a few verses prior, Jesus catches them arguing over who is the greatest. At this point, they’re still interested in titles and seats of honor, not in suffering or persecution.

Although they’ve left everything behind physically, the disciples are still works in progress, spiritually.

In that sense, discipleship is total commitment of mind, body, heart, and soul.

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Who or what have I parted with in order to follow the Lord? 

Like Peter, are there parts of myself that I’m still carrying, which I need to leave behind? Think in terms of pride, fear, the desire for control, or our ego?

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As we journey along the path of surrender, may Peter’s words one day become ours in the fullest sense:

“Master, we have given up everything and followed you.”

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Image credits: (1) Old Boat at Dawn, Olga Beliaeva (2) The Pain PT (3) Adobe Stock