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(27th October 2024) Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (Jer 31: 7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52)

REFLECT: Renewal of life comes from Firm faith in God, seeking his mercy and compassion …

My dear friends, we are in the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We would perhaps feel comfortable to say that firm faith in God, seeking through his mercy and compassion brings life’s renewal. The renewal of life begins, when we understand that God is the sustainer, sanctifier and saviour of life. Certainly, God is the author and owner of life. God is the author, because he knows the beginning and end of our life and God is the owner of life because he is the founder and creator of all things in the world. God is always good and therefore he directs us to be good and desires us to be good, so that our lives become good in his sight and one another. Perhaps, it might look or seem that we decide and desire about life but in the ultimate sense it is God who decides and desires us to be good. Sometimes his decisions may be delayed but never denied; his desires for our good desires may be delayed but never discarded. Because he desires us what we supposed to be. Thus, God is the author of life and ownership of life belongs to him alone. Therefore, based on the liturgy of the word for today, I would like to share with you three points to take us home and live life in a way that’s pleasing to God and to one another.

1.     God - the sustainer of life

God is not just a creator rather sustainer of life as well. God provides us all that we need and assures of safety and continuity of life on earth. God maintains balance and order of the universe. We all know if at all we have life today its God who gave us life as gift to live on earth. In Genesis 1:27 we read, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  In Genesis 2:7 we read, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Yes, God created us and formed us and God does not limit himself to creating or giving life as a gift rather he makes sure that he sustains or strengthens us and supports us in every way even if everyone disowns us. So God creates life on earth, gives life and he has the power to recreate and renew life as well at every stage.

Today, we experience the flash or spark of death in many ways; sufferings, hardships, defeat, betrayal, loss of focus, pride, anger etc in all these if we are fed up with life (the experience of pandemic in our world and flood that destroyed many in different parts of our world). But God can turn this havoc or pathetic conditions of life to refresh or renew and sustain life. It is not a justification to what has happened, but we need to accept it as part of life. We know that the people of Israel lost their friendship or relationship with God but God promises that he would bring about the return of his dispersed children. That’s what we hear in the first reading from Prophet Jeremiah, “Look I will bring them back from the land of the north, gather them from the ends of the earth, the lame and the blind, mothers and women in labour, a great throng will return,” and towards the end of the first reading we hear Yahweh saying, “for I am Israel’s father and Ephraim is my first born.” The words of Prophet Jeremiah give a glimpse and the depth of God’s love for the people, Israel.

When we compare our lives to the people of Israel, similar is life-style with us too. Although, we go astray from God by way of anger, pride, jealousy, gossip, lack of moral courage and moral standard of life, lack of holiness, lack of sincerity in relationships, yet, it is God who decides and desires us to bring us back like the people Israel, giving us life, sustaining that life to live in peace and love, harmony and unity with God. So God does not create and just leave us the way we want to go. God shapes us and sustains our lives, so that we know the value of life and depth of love God has for us.

That’s what Pope Francis would say while speaking about God who sustains us in the midst of fragility. “This is primarily how St. Joseph responded to the immense gift of having the Son of God made man in his home: by being with Him, listening to Him, speaking to Him, and sharing daily life with Him. Each of us, with our own fragility cannot stay standing without the Lord who sustains us.”Yes, the Lord sustains in whatever the situation we may be. He makes sure that we live a harmonious life and life worthy of his children. So let us remember it is God who sustains our lives in every ups and downs and makes life move on smoothly for a better living.

2.     God -  the sanctifier of life

Sanctity or holiness is setting ourselves apart, our desires and pleasures to serve God and his people completely. God as the sanctifier of life is a reminder for us that God does not remain idle after creating and sustaining rather purifies, blesses and makes it holy. God, who is holy makes things holy, but it is we who choose to be in sin and become unholy. We all need to remember that the life of holiness or sanctity comes from God. Without God’s grace we can never be sanctified. We read in the letter to the Hebrews, “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live. They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness,” (Heb 12: 9-10 ). So disciplining us in the way of holiness is primarily the task of God and God sanctifies those whom he wishes or calls for his work.

That’s what we heard in the second reading, “Every high priest is taken from among mortals and appointed, as representatives of God by offering sacrifices for their sins and for all people. This dignity is not obtained by them but granted by God. It is even said, not even Jesus Christ can claim that dignity as his own because it is given by God and so it is said, “you are my son, today I have begotten you.” So it is God who decides desires and designs a plan for Jesus Christ to be a high priest to offer sacrifices his own life for our redemption and bring about glory to God through his suffering, death and resurrection. It is same with us too today if we want to be or wish to become holy we need to allow God to work in us, we need entrust life into his care, entrust all that we have, for we can do nothing without God and everything is a possibility for God. So in this sanctifying process we need to co-operate with God and acknowledge his hand at work in us, be ready to change life and do what God asks of us to do. Then we will be sanctified by God to serve the humanity.

3.     God -  the savior of Life;

God is the saviour of life would mean that God intervenes in our lives to ensure safety and security from every harm and danger and makes us live life well on earth. A very familiar phrase we hear from many people today “it is because of him or her I am alive.” The statement underscores the importance of the one who has saved your life from danger or given a new direction of path to start anew life. If we analyze and see, it is God who has saved us ultimately. That someone, who has come to our rescue, is from God, through God. God sends us people to protect us from all possible dangers. Yes! It is God who saves life from danger or harm, sickness or weakness or anything for that matter happens to us. God uses different people, places, times and situations to save us. Just as a driver drives the vehicle and makes our journey comfortable to the destination with confidence and trust, so also it is God who drives the vehicle of life and moves us towards life’s destination safely. God Moves us to do good, moves us to abide in him, moves us to ask him for favours and be blessed, moves us to live in love, moves us to help our brothers and sisters in need.

That is what we find in the Gospel reading; the blind man was moved by God to seek for help from Jesus, although, the crowd tried to silence him. The blind Barthimaeus was aware that Jesus was passing by the road and he felt by the grace of God that if he misses this opportunity of calling out to Jesus for help, he would be blind forever and so with courage and confidence calls out Jesus to have mercy on him. We know what happened to him. God did not only move him to call out Jesus’ name but he moved him even to such an extent of giving the blind man what he wished for. The blind Barthimaeus was restored of his sight and was saved from the dark sides of life. The blind man who was seeing only a dark shadow begins to see now the bright light; the blind man who was in darkness now has been brought to light.

Today we too are caught up in various dark sides of life or darkness of life; it may be any form of harm and danger, sickness or sin, natural or man-made calamities, evil or weakness we have. However, it is God who moves us to seek him; it is God who saves us from all harm and danger, shamefulness and sinfulness. So like the blind man, who was moved by God to seek for blessings and was saved from facing the dark side of life or darkness of life, so also we need to pray that we be moved by God’s grace and obtain his favor to see the light of life, walk towards the path that God shows us. The reason why we are not able to obtain sight for ourselves or why we are not brought to bright side of life is our unwillingness to move towards God. We always feel what others would think of me, if I ask for help in need; we are frightened; we become suspicious of  God’s goodness and generosity; we feel compelled to remain in darkness than choosing to come to light.

We see in today’s gospel, what the blind Barthimaeus did. He shouted all the more, “Son of David, Have Mercy on Me.” He did not worry about the crowd around him. He did not worry about the status-quo. He understood that Jesus would understand him better; he understood that he need to only take a step towards Jesus; he understood that he need to have only faith in Jesus for brighter side of life. That’s what Pope Francis would say, “The blind man may have lost his sight but not his voice. Barthimaeus does not use many words. He says what is essential and entrusts himself to God’s love which can make his life flourish again by doing what is humanly impossible.”

Yes, it is because of the firm faith he had in Jesus. The blind Barthimaeus believed that Jesus would restore his sight. So he utters the simple prayer of faith, seeking the mercy and compassion of God. His plea for mercy and compassion results in restoring his sight. This is what we are called to live by; living in faith and relying on God’s mercy and compassion in life. We need to have faith in Jesus, seeking the mercy and compassion of God, entrusting ourselves in God’s compassionate heart for renewal of life. Let us pray today that we may lose our voices or sight or parts of our body, but if we have still faith in Jesus, we would obtain what we ask for.  Such is the power of faith and such need to be our faithfulness to the power of God in our lives. I am sure, we all would be able to live happily, if we entrust ourselves in God’s hands, seeking his mercy and compassion, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

RESPOND:

Do we believe and understand that God is the sustainer of life?

Do we believe and become aware that God is the sanctifier of life?

Do we believe and experience that God is the saviour of life?

Let us believe and understand that God is the sustainer, sanctifier and saviour of life. For such a disposition and understanding, we need to have firm faith in Jesus, seeking his mercy and compassion in our lives. Amen.

God bless us all… Live Jesus!