Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 146
Reading 1 from the Holy Book of Isaiah
Is 53:10-11
This is a prophecy in the Old Testament of the Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Christ.
Christ came to suffer for us, that is God's plan for our salvation.The LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.
If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.
Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
I don't have much to say. God sent His only begotten Son that those who believe in Him might be saved to life everlasting. By His stripes, we were healed. Isaiah made this prophecy centuries before the coming of Our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Christ is the mercy of God, whom God sent in order to save us from our sins. In order to be glorified with Him, we must share in His affliction, for the Church:
Romans 8:17
King James Version (KJV)17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Reading 2 from St. Paul's epistle to the Hebrews
Heb 4:14-16
Jesus is the Son of God. When He died, He went to heaven. Scripture says elsewhere:Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
Jesus Christ is the only man who, at that point, had been in heaven. Heb 11:39, tells us that the Jews could not go to heaven because they were justified by works. Therefore they had to wait for Jesus to die on the Cross and lead them to heaven.John 3:13
King James Version (KJV)13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Jesus became man, but did not fall to the temptation of sin. Although He was tested in every way, just as we are:For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
Matthew 4:10
King James Version (KJV)10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
This is a Sacramental Teaching. The throne of grace is the Baptismal font. It is the Eucharist. It is the Church. It is Christ working through the Sacraments. It is there that we receive the mercy and grace to help us in our daily life.
Titus 3:5
King James Version (KJV)5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark
Mk 10:35-45
Sts. James and John, two of the three pillars (Gal 2:9) of the Church, wanted to slyly bypass St. Peter, whom Jesus had appointed the Rock upon which the Church was built.James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Therefore, they asked that one of them be given the glory of sitting at the right hand of Christ. A position which is neither granted to St. Peter nor to them, but to our Queen Mother, Mary:
Who sits at Christ's right hand, I don't know. But perhaps it is the magnificent Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul who share the glory of being credited with the establishment of the Church. Read more.Revelation 12:1
King James Version (KJV)1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
The cup which Jesus drank, is the cup of suffering.Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
The Baptism He received is the Baptism of His own blood upon the Cross.
They did not yet understand to what He was referring.
And they boldly responded, "Yes, we can." Interestingly, in another Scripture, Jesus said:They said to him, "We can."
St. John is the only Apostle who remained by Christ's side during His Passion and Crucifixion. St. James abandoned Him as did the rest of the Apostles.Matthew 16:25
King James Version (KJV)25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
St. John was the last Apostle to die and died a natural death (although there is a movement to declare that he was assumed into heaven).
St. James, on the other hand, was the first Apostle to be martyred:
Interesting.Acts 12:2
King James Version (KJV)2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
Jesus says that it is God, the Father, who decides who sits where in heaven.Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus takes the opportunity to teach the Apostles a lesson of humility before God and man. He says that He came to serve and give His life for mankind. And anyone who follows Him must do the same. As St. Peter says it:
1 Peter 2:21
King James Version (KJV)21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
The alternate reading is simply a shortened version of the main. Therefore I have copied it below without comment.
or Mk 10:42-45
Jesus summoned the Twelve and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Sincerely,
De Maria
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