This Sunday’s Readings:
Jeremiah 31:7–9
Psalm 126:1–2, 2–3, 4–5, 6 (℟ 3)
Hebrews 5:1–6
Mark 10:46–52
THE DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD WITH JESUS, eyewitnesses to his miracles and privileged recipients of his teaching, should have been looking for Bartimaeus, but they were too focused on themselves and their own concerns. They didn’t even see the blind beggar until he had made a ruckus. Bartimaeus, cast to the roadside, kept his sight outward, waiting with vigilant hope for the Son of David. The crowd that gathered with Jesus called for silence at the cry of the poor.
But Bartimaeus, with eyes of faith and a voice to proclaim it, called out louder for the mercy he knew was waiting for him. Earlier, the man who sought eternal life but chose his many possessions instead had turned away from Jesus’s path. Bartimaeus threw aside his only possession, his cloak, sprang up, and followed Jesus right into Jerusalem and the cross.
Bartimaeus’s example of true discipleship calls us to be better disciples ourselves. We must look to the peripheries for those society makes invisible, and be ready to find Jesus there. Amplify the cries for justice by those oppressed, and do not silence them out of a need to preserve order or our own comfort. And when anyone we encounter is in need of mercy, without delay we can turn to them and say, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
–Diana Macalintal
Suggested Music
Choral Suggestions:
MYSTAGOGY MOMENT:
“Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”
It’s hard not to hear the word priest as only the person standing behind the altar. But we all share in the baptismal priesthood, the priesthood of all believers. One priest-presider is set apart to lift up the gifts of all of the people. Throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest-presider uses the word “we” and not “I”. This prayer is the prayer of all present. We all offer thanksgiving and petition. We join with the priest at the altar and with Christ, the eternal High Priest, to make our sacrifice of praise. What do you offer at mass? What sacrifice do you make?
–Victoria Zibell
More choral suggestions for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time…
Glorify Him by Your Life Lorraine Hess SATB, cantor, assembly, keyboard, guitar 007901
I Know the Lord Arr. Alice Parker SATB G-4229
I Wanna Shine Ed Bolduc Three-part choir, cantor, assembly, keyboard, guitar 008210
One Faith in Christ Laurence Rosania SATB, descant, assembly, organ, opt. brass instrument 008735
Pan del Cielo / Bread of Heaven Eleazar Cortés, Arr. Jeffrey Honoré & Peter M. Kolar Two-part choir, cantor, assembly, keyboard, guitar, opt. marimba 012643
Renew Me, O Eternal Light Arr. John Leavitt SAB G-3191
Take Courage Ruth Duck & Steven R. Janco Unison choir, descant, solo, assembly, keyboard, guitar, flute 008702
We Bring Our Gifts to Your Altar Brian Flynn Cantor, assembly, guitar es08272-H
With Eternal Love Lucien Deiss, CSSP. SATB, cantor, assembly, keyboard, 2 C instruments 002572