May 30, 2013

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Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 350

Reading 1SIR 42:15-25

Now will I recall God’s works;
what I have seen, I will describe.
At God’s word were his works brought into being;
they do his will as he has ordained for them.
As the rising sun is clear to all,
so the glory of the LORD fills all his works;
Yet even God’s holy ones must fail
in recounting the wonders of the LORD,
Though God has given these, his hosts, the strength
to stand firm before his glory.
He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart;
their innermost being he understands.
The Most High possesses all knowledge,
and sees from of old the things that are to come:
He makes known the past and the future,
and reveals the deepest secrets.
No understanding does he lack;
no single thing escapes him.
Perennial is his almighty wisdom;
he is from all eternity one and the same,
With nothing added, nothing taken away;
no need of a counselor for him!
How beautiful are all his works!
even to the spark and fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever;
to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another,
yet none of them has he made in vain,
For each in turn, as it comes, is good;
can one ever see enough of their splendor?

God is wonderful beyond human understanding.  In Him there is nothing missing.  He is complete in Himself, lacking nothing and giving everything.  All which He does is perfection.  He knows all and sees all and understands all.  

Responsorial PsalmPS 33:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (6a) By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
For 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. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as in a flask;
in cellars he confines the deep.
R. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all who dwell in the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it was made;
he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.

With simply a pronouncement of a word, God created all which we see and which we can't see.  

GospelMK 10:46-52

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.” 

A blind man with faith in God began to cry out to our Lord as He passed by, "have pity on me!"

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

Many tried to silence Him.

But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”

But his faith was too strong to be so easily dissuaded.

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

And his faith was rewarded.  Because Jesus took note of him.

So they called the blind man, saying to him,

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

And so the crowd encouraged him to go to Christ.

He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

And he jumped up, anxious to come before the Master.

Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus asked him, "What would you like?"

The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”

And he replied, "To see."

Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.”

Immediately he received his sight

and followed him on the way.

And Jesus said, "Go now, you have received as you have asked because of your faith."

This is a foreshadowing of Baptism and the other Sacraments, where we, like the blind man in this story, call onto Jesus Christ and ask Him to give us our spiritual sight.  And we stand before Hiim by faith apart from works, believing that He will do for us all which He promised.