For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

For the last five Sundays or so, Mark’s gospel describes the journey of Jesus and his disciples from Galilee to Jerusalem where he’ll die and rise from the dead. It’s not a day by day account of the journey or a list of each place they pass;  the gospel is more interested in the people Jesus encounters and invites to follow him  along the way.

Good ordinary people, as far as we can judge. Peter and his brother Andrew,  the other fishermen from Galilee,  James and John, were among the first who follow him. Good, solid reasonable people. The rich young man who meets Jesus on the way– our gospel reading a few weeks ago– a good, solid individual. Jesus calls him to follow him.

But Mark indicates his followers often fail to understand him, especially his message about suffering and death. Yet he calls them anyway, even though over and over Mark says, “They did not understand him.” 

 “You think like human beings think,” Jesus says to Peter,  who wanted him to put thoughts of suffering and death from his mind. James and John are looking for positions in Jesus’ earthly kingdom, a sure thing. The rich young man’s afraid of losing what he has. They think like human beings think. They don’t understand him.

Of course, Mark’s gospel says that’s the way we think too. We’re  limited, we’re self-serving, we’re  afraid to trust in the wisdom and promises of God. We think like human beings. 

At one point in Mark’s gospel,  the disciples throw up their hands in desperation after Jesus admonishes them,  “Then who can be saved?” Are you looking for a perfect remnant?

Today’s gospel seems to answer that question. “As Jesus was leaving Jericho near the end of his journey, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, is sitting by the roadside begging.” The blind beggar sits there by the road. He can’t see.  And he has nothing to recommend him. Nobody wants to look at him, but Jesus calls him and gives him his sight. 

Not only does Jesus give him sight, but Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, gets up and follows Jesus on the way, up to Jerusalem. 

In a simple, beautiful way, Mark’s Gospels presents a powerful story of God’s mercy. The blind man is a symbol of humanity, blind to so much. But God’s mercy is stronger than human understanding, human weakness, even human sin. God’s mercy helps us to see, to get up and to go with Jesus to Jerusalem.

A powerful story of hope. It’s not a small remnant that will be saved. It’s an immense throng. Listen to Jeremiah, our first reading.  

“The LORD has delivered his people,
        the remnant of Israel.
    Behold, I will bring them back
        from the land of the north;
    I will gather them from the ends of the world,
        with the blind and the lame in their midst,
    the mothers and those with child;
        they shall return as an immense throng.
    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.
    For I am a father to Israel,
        Ephraim is my first-born.”

Our readings these days from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and Luke’s gospel speak of a people on a journey, longing to see God’s face. But first, there’s a mountain to climb before standing in God’s holy place. Not an easy climb. (Responsorial psalm, Friday)

I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace;  
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

Paul calls for patience, unity and peace from his flock in Ephesus, whose leader is now a prisoner. Most likely, they feel adrift. When the shepherd is struck the sheep scatter.

And so Paul promises the care of the Good Shepherd who cares for his flock from on high, whose care never ceases.

The one who descended is also the one who ascended
far above all the heavens,
that he might fill all things. And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood
to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
so that we may no longer be infants,
tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching
arising from human trickery,
from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
Rather, living the truth in love,
we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
from whom the whole Body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
with the proper functioning of each part,
brings about the Body’s growth and builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:7-16) 

A good teaching for the church today.

The autumn sun has a special brilliance as it rises in the morning bathing our oak trees, our spruce, our plum and cherry trees with light. Toward the end of the 1st century, St. Clement of Rome wrote a letter to the Christians of Corinth, the church St. Paul wrote two letters to earlier.

In lyrical language Clement pictures God’s great plan for creation. “Fix your gaze on the Father and Creator of the whole world.” You can see the Creator in the world he made.

“By God’s direction the heavens are in motion, and they are subject to him in peace. Day and night they fulfill the course God has established. The sun, the moon and the choirs of stars revolve in harmony at his command in their appointed paths without deviation….The earth blossoms in the proper seasons and produces abundant food…”

The destiny of creation is not destruction but resurrection. The world has its fierce, stormy seas, but God commands the seas.

“ Consider, beloved, how the Lord keeps reminding us of the resurrection that is to come, of which he has made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising him from the dead. Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection that occurs at its appointed time. Day and night show us a resurrection; the night lies in sleep, day rises again; the day departs, night takes its place. Let us think about the harvest; how does the sowing take place, and in what manner? The sower goes out and casts each seed onto the ground. Dry and bare, they fall into the earth and decay. Then the greatness of the Lord’s providence raises them up again from decay, and out of one many are produced and yield fruit.”

It’s not nature mysticism Clement recommends. It’s a world seen through the eyes of faith. God’s “great providence” is at work.

Sunrise through the trees in our garden the other day whispered that to me.

Scholars are usually cautious about what they say or write, particularly if other scholars are checking on what they say. The scholars commenting on the Letter to the Ephesians, our reading in our liturgy, might be typical. They say the letter may or may not be written to the church at Ephesus. No particular references to that church or any problems it has. They wonder too if Paul wrote the letter, or was it written by a secretary. Paul wrote it from prison; was he in prison in Jerusalem or in Rome? 

Scholars can only go so far when they sift through the words of scripture. And that where believers come in:

“The sacred synod also earnestly and especially urges all the Christian faithful… to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures the “excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:8). “For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”(5) Therefore, they should gladly put themselves in touch with the sacred text itself, whether it be through the liturgy, rich in the divine word, or through devotional reading,,, And let them remember that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that God and man may talk together; for ‘we speak to Him when we pray; we hear Him when we read the divine saying.’ (Dei Verbum 25 )

That strong statement from the Second Vatican Council asks ordinary Christians to read and pray the scriptures. The good commentaries and translations from the scholars are there, now it’s the turn of ordinary Christians to do their part. That’s not a small matter.

The Constitution on Holy Scripture from Vatican II speaks of a growth in understanding of the plan of God and our place in it that takes place through the prayerful reading of the scriptures:

“For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51)… For as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.” ( Dei Verbum 8 )

The Spirit awaits our prayerful reading of the scriptures to bring God’s blessings to us, ordinary believers that we are.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

What about the Pharisees Luke describes in today’s gospel (Luke 11:37-41) and the judaizers upsetting Paul’s converts in Galatia (Galatians 5:1-6) with their demands they accept circumcision?

We usually picture the Pharisees as religious, almost fanatically religious in fact. But there’s another picture of them history invites us to consider. The Pharisees were shrewdly practical, good organizers who kept the Jewish religion alive after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. They preserved Jewish identity in the Roman world by concentrating on Jewish practices, like circumcision. 

Jewish identity was important before Roman law. Nero chose Christians for persecution in the 60s because they were seen as Jewish separatists, non-practicing Jews. In later persecutions, Christians were seen as opponents of Rome because they would not offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. On the contrary, Jews were exempt by Roman law from offering sacrifice because of their religion. They were not persecuted.

Were the Judaizers in Galatia calling for greater Jewish identity from Paul’s converts for the safety it would bring them before Roman law? Paul refused this accommodation. He upheld faith in Jesus Christ and his Cross.

Makes us think, doesn’t it?