A Homily – The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading – Isaiah 53:10-11

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 32(33):4-5,18-20,22

Second Reading – Hebrews 4:14-16

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

The Gospel According to Mark 10:35-45 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

It is wise and good for the leader of a community, or anyone in a position of leadership, to assume responsibility for the mistakes made by those serving under their authority, it is wise and good.

When you rise to the leadership of an enduring community, you are responsibility for its present and its future but also for its history, including mistakes that were made before your time. At times this might be difficult, but the essence of leadership is problem solving, critical thinking and clarity of mind.

These principles may be applied to all human relationships, taking responsibility and admitting fault, seeking forgiveness and accepting it, this is the way that allows the spirit to flourish and leads to the divine. This is to say that when we enter into a relationship with another human being, we accept them for they are, for the potential that we see in them and their past no matter their faults.

As followers of the way, we tasked with leading ourselves, first and foremost, to the water that nourishes and the light that transforms.

Know this!

God, the creator of the universe, has taken responsibility for the entire creation and all that transpires within it, all the good that flows from the source of all goodness and all of the evil we return, God has taken responsibility for all of it…this is the mystery of the cross…and yet, though God has taken responsibility for it all, God will not intervene in our affairs.

God will not rescue a victim, God will not punish a perpetrator, God will not choose a winner or a loser in any contest or conflict...because God has made us, and the whole creation free.

The psalmist is correct.

It is fitting to praise God. It is wise to trust in God’s counsel, listen to your heart. Have faith in God’s mercy; though do not expect God to rescue you from danger, and do not believe that God’s loves any one of God’s children more than God loves any other; God’s promise extends to everyone, even the most broken.

God knows all things and understands all things…you have heard this said. God’s knowledge is not an abstract knowledge of particulars, of the minute details in individual events, God understands our person, our choices, our lives even as we understand them ourselves.

Trust in God’s plan for you, and for creation, but do not wait for salvation, you have already been saved, go out and share the good news.

Consider the teacher of the apostle  and ask yourself these questions:

     Is it true that in Jesus, the Son of God, there is no sin?

2.          Is it true that all things come into being, and have there existence in Jesus, who is God’s eternal Word?

3.          Is it true that not one thing exists apart from God?

 I ask again; is it true that in Jesus there is no sin?

 I ask this because Christian doctrine teaches that we are all “in Jesus,” and that “in Jesus” there is no sin.

 Are we really to believe that this thing exists?

What is its ontology, from what is it derived?

Is sin a substance, or a state of being?

 The apostle taught that Jesus was our “high priest,” not in his capacity as the deity, but in his humanity he takes the role of priest, and through the priestly mediation he connects with his followers through intimacy and ritual, encouraging the faithful along the way to dwell within the truth and be dedicated to the good of all God’s children.  

 When you consider the Gospel reading for the today, know this:

 Jesus did not come to give his life as a ransom for many. We know this because there was no ransom to pay…this is a poor metaphor, and figure of speech.

 Our salvation is not linked to the satisfaction of a cosmic debt, which in this configuration is imagined to be a debt owed by God to the Devil, a debt that Jesus, directed by his father, opted to pay on our behalf, and the price was blood. The idea that Jesus gave his life as a ransom is based in this concept, and this concept is not based in reality…it is false to say so.

 Know this.

 The meaning of the word salvation is: to make well, to be washed clean, or made whole.

 We do not live in a universe where we pay for our sins through blood sacrifices; we do not and we never have. Blood will not wash us clean.

 The economy of salvation, based on this concept is unjust, immoral and theologically bankrupt. It is transactional, rooted in superstition and corrupted by magical thinking.

 It must be rejected for its falsity, and because it is inherently susceptible to the corruption of grifters and graff.

 The sacrifice that Jesus would have us offer is the sacrifice of service manifested in the care we give to one another; through love and care, by fostering hope and trust, by relieving people of their pain and providing them comfort.

 While it may be true that Jesus saw the inevitability of his own death as a practical reality, and a likely possibility, it was not inevitable. His murder was an unnecessary, to the Romans and the State of Judea, it did not fulfil a cosmic purpose, it was merely cruel.

First Reading – Isaiah 53:10-11

If He Offers His Life in Atonement, What the Lord Wishes Will Be Done

The Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering.

If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him what the Lord wishes will be done.

His soul’s anguish over, he shall see the light and be content.

By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 32(33):4-5,18-20,22

 The Lord provides

Praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Rejoice in the Lord, you just:

  it is good for the upright to praise him.

Proclaim the Lord on the lyre,

  play his song on the ten-stringed harp.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

  sing out your cries of triumph,

for the word of the Lord is truly just,

  and all his actions are faithful.

The Lord loves justice and right judgement;

  the earth is full of his loving kindness.

By the Lord’s word the heavens were made,

  and all their array by the breath of his mouth.

He gathered the seas as if in a bag,

  he stored up the depths in his treasury.

Let every land fear the Lord,

  let all the world be awed at his presence.

For he spoke, and they came into being;

  he commanded, and they were made.

The Lord confounds the counsel of the nations,

  throws the thoughts of the peoples into confusion.

But the Lord’s own counsel stands firm for ever,

  his thoughts last for all generations.

Happy the nation whose lord is God,

  the people he has chosen as his inheritance.

The Lord looks down from the heavens

  and sees all the children of men.

From his dwelling-place he looks

  upon all who inhabit the earth.

He moulded each one of their hearts,

  he understands all that they do.

The king will not be saved by his forces;

  the abundance of his strength will not set the strong man free.

Do not trust a horse to save you,

  whatever its swiftness and strength.

For see, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

  upon those who trust in his mercy,

hoping he will save their souls from death

  and their bodies from hunger.

Our souls praise the Lord,

  for he is our help and our protector,

for our hearts rejoice in him,

  and we trust in his holy name.

Lord, show us your loving kindness,

  just as we put our hope in you.

Amen.

Praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

Alleluia, alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Hebrews 4:14-16

Our High Priest is One Who Has Been Tempted in Every Way That We Are

Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord; No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 10:35-45 ©

The Son of Man Came to Give His Life As a Ransom for Many

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you to do us a favour.’

He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’

They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’

‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?’

They replied, ‘We can.’

Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’

When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

A Homily – The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)