“Shout with joy. The Lord has delivered his people. Behold I will bring them back. I will console them and guide them. “
“What do you want me to do for you? Go on your way your faith has saved you.”
These are the words from our Scripture today. These words powerfully show God’s activity. They show how God interacts with humanity. They encourage us to have a joyful response to God‘s grace period they proclaim that God brings comfort and healing.
In our first reading today from the prophet Jeremiah, the people of God are scattered. They have been dispersed because the neighboring tribes have conquered them. God promises to reunite His people and bring them home. This plays out on the surface level of the actual physical distribution of the Jews in many lands. However it also plays out on a spiritual level. There are things in our lives that can scatter us and cause us to have many distractions leading us away from God. Worry, anxiety, anger, and other worldly matters can scatter our thoughts and keep us from praying or prevent us from having a peaceful spirit. Often times these distractions can keep us from having a relationship with God. God calls us to have an active relationship of trust and joy. This will lead to a sense of peace and unity within our spirit
When we seek out an active relationship with God, we increase our sense of peace. There is a wholeness and healing that takes place in our inner being. We are created to be in union with God. It may seem curious that Jesus asks the Blind Man the question, “What do you want me to do for you?” But Jesus is trying to elicit from the man a deeper relationship than mere physical healing. The man proclaims Jesus to be Master. In acknowledging this title for Jesus, the Blind Man acknowledges that Jesus is God and has the power to save. Ironically, it is the Blind Man sees clearly the Divine Identity of Jesus is. It is key that we noticed Jesus’s response. Jesus says, “It is your faith that has saved you.”
What is our trust level in God? What scatters our thoughts? What keeps us from being able to pray? What prevents us from a sense of peace or joy? If we are grounded in our prayerful relationship with God and we are more likely to have a wholeness of spirit. We are more likely to have a sense of peace and joy.
Today let us pray for trust in the healing power of God. And then let us ask God to bring His healing power into our lives. Healing not just physically, but of our spirit our mind our attention. May we always seek to see things correctly. Like the Blind Man, let us ask God to open our eyes to see God present in our lives. To see things in terms of our own salvation. To see things in terms of eternal worth. May we always have our eyes focused on heaven. And may we see God’s grace and blessings. Then together, we will shout for joy to the Lord.
First Reading
Jer 31:7-9
The blind and the lame I will bring back: I will console them.
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
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.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
R. :
R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Second Reading
Heb 5:1-6
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews
Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Acclamation before the Gospel
Cf 2 Tm 1:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mk 10:46-52
Master, I want to see.
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
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.At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:
The Gospel of the Lord.
Catholic Bible Study / Scripture Reflections 