October 21, 2009
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Breaking Open the Word By James Cavanagh Oct. 25: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Scripture readings:
Overview: The theme of journeying is the thread that links this week’s readings together. In the first reading, Jeremiah consoles his fellow exiles with the hope that their Babylonian captivity is about to end. Soon, they will return to the Promised Land. Psalm 126 celebrates the return from exile: banished from Judah and driven away in tears the exiles return, their “mouths filled with laughter.” The return from exile prefigures that day when all of God’s children, the whole human family, will be reunited with God and one another in Christ. In the second reading, Jesus is described as high priest who has been “glorified” (raised up to heaven) through what he suffered. As a man, he can sympathize with our weaknesses. As glorified high priest, he has opened the gates of heaven and shows us the way. The blind man in this week’s Gospel was a mere “nobody” to most people. Even the disciples tried to deny his worth by telling him to be quiet. But Christ dignified his humanity so that he who was “nobody” is now remembered by name: “Bartimaeus,” a name which means “precious,” “valuable,” “esteemed.” Where most people saw a worthless, blind beggar, Jesus saw a child of God: a person of infinite value and worth made in the image and likeness of God. His dignity (“sight”) restored, he was able to join the throng of disciples in following Jesus “on the way.” Key verse: “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” (Jer 31:8). “Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “The universe was created ‘in a state of journeying’ (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it. The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history” (Nos. 302-303). Pope Benedict XVI: “In the human being, heaven and earth touch one another. In the human being God enters into his creation; the human being is directly related to God” (“In the Beginning”). Application: This week’s readings emphasize the fact that God cares for everyone, from the least to greatest. He wants to lead everyone to heaven. In a world that values people only in terms of their utility, this message is both timely and significant—and radical. The inherent worth of every person no matter how disfigured, disabled or “useless” they might seem, is central to our faith. As Catholics we have a duty to respect and defend the dignity of every human life for we’re all, in a sense, “blind beggars” touched by God: fellow pilgrims on our way to heaven. |
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