The Face of God
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October 26, 2018The imagery of sight and blindness pervades the readings for this Sunday. The Church uses this metaphor to help us understand how we are blinded by sin and are in need of Christ’s light in order to follow him. In modern society, we think of freedom as the absolute ability to do whatever we want, as long as we don’t hurt anyone else. As Christians, this gravely distorts our understanding of sin. It follows from that definition of freedom that there really is no sin; as long as what we do affects ourselves, then it cannot harm anyone else.
This is not a Catholic understanding of sin and freedom. We believe that we are only free as far as we are able to do the good freely. We grow in freedom the more that we resist evil and choose what is good. Moreover, sin is not private, because it gravely offends our relationship with God, it hurts our union with others, and we only hurt ourselves by sinning. In the Bible, we see attachment to sin described as blindness. The one who is full of sin is actually made blind to reality. The more we sin, the less we are able to see the truth clearly.
Through Jesus Christ, we are able to overcome our blindness and step into his light. Do we have the spiritual strength to let go of our petty attachments, and choose Christ above all else?Click HERE to watch a short video
1st Reading Reflection Discussion 2nd Readin Reflection Digging Deeper Gospel Reflection Join us for FORMED Fellowship + Lunch
Invite a friend or family
(Sunday, October 28th @ 12:00 noon in the Hall)
First Reading ReflectionJeremiah lived during one of the most difficult times in the history of Israel, which included the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (587 BC) and deportations to Babylon (597 & 587 BC). God commissioned him to prophecy these events, which made him a very unpopular figure among the ruling classes. These ruling classes perpetrated the acts of idolatry (including child sacrifice), which Jeremiah condemned, and which eventually brought about the destruction of Israel. The reading for this Sunday draws from the section in Jeremiah that consoles the people, promising the coming of the New Covenant and a Messiah who would redeem Israel from its sins (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
In this section, the prophet Jeremiah delivers God’s promises to His chosen people. He is a generous God, whose fatherly love does not diminish, even though the people of Israel fail to love him and reverence him in return.
God reaches out to the Israelites in order to bring them closer to his heart. Time and time again, the Israelites promise to be faithful to him, but then refuse to give him the love and adoration that he is owed. Even still God, calls the people back to himself. For this reason, he promises them the New Covenant, in which he will recapitulate, or bring under his Headship, all peoples, both Israelites and Gentiles.
Our movement toward God in difficult times is a sign of a deep faith. We can use periods of suffering in our lives as opportunities to strengthen our faith and make honest assessments about where we stand before God. It is very difficult to trust in God at all moments, especially when we encounter some unforeseen suffering or pain. We must work to increase our faith in God’s merciful love, begging his forgiveness when we fail and fall into sin.
Having considered all that God has said here, we can echo the sentiments of the opening verses and “shout with joy...proclaim your praise and say: “The Lord has delivered his people.” By his faithfulness, God has truly given us reason to rejoice. We should always give thanks to God for being part of his people, the ones to whom he has given his saving message. His love tests us in trials but rewards us too with heavenly gifts.
Second Reading Reflection
The end of Hebrews 4 spoke of Jesus Christ as the new and eternal High Priest, who stands before God’s throne in heaven. The author of Hebrews states that Jesus’s High Priesthood is in “the order of Melchizedek.” While this comparison may strike as odd, the symbolism is actually very rich.
The letter was written to Jews and attempts to show that Jesus is both Messiah and God. It is full of Old Testament references to underscore the validity of the Christian claims about Jesus to this Jewish audience. So why all the discussion about the priesthood of Jesus? Because the Jews held that only a male from the tribe of Levi could be a priest (see Numbers 3). Since Jesus was of the tribe of Judah he could not be a priest, especially not a High Priest, according to the Law!
Gospel Reflection
Although Mark’s Gospel is the shortest, he is the only one to record the name of the blind man as Bartimaeus (literally, “son of Timothy”), and he alone records the eventual encouragement from the crowd when Jesus calls him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.” And Bartimaeus then “threw aside his cloak, jumped up and came to Jesus.” After Bartimaeus’s encounter with Jesus we are told, “Immediately he received his sight and started to follow him [Jesus] up the road.” Mark loves the immediacy of Jesus’s power. The word immediately is used repeatedly at the beginning of his Gospel, and suggests the imminent arrival of the Kingdom.
Jesus passes through Jericho like a new Joshua, who conquered Jericho on his way into the Promised Land. At Jericho, Jesus brings forgiveness to Zacchaeus (see Luke 19) and sight to Bartimaeus and his blind companion (see Matthew 20). Just as Rahab the harlot (who shows up in the genealogy of Jesus) was saved by Joshua when Jericho was conquered, so now the outcast tax collector Zacchaeus finds salvation in his encounter with this new Joshua. Bartimaeus, as the last disciple to join Jesus before He goes to Jerusalem and the death awaiting Him, becomes an icon for all those Gentile believers who are latecomers to the way of Christ. Even though they are late in following Christ, they have come to see him as the “Light of the world.” Indeed, through Christ, “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light” (Matthew 4:15-16).
The juxtaposition of light and darkness is a prominent theme in the Gospels, especially John 1. Jesus heals Bartimaeus and the man born blind, while the Pharisees, in contrast, are called “blind guides.” In the story of Bartimaeus, we see this light theme connected with trusting faith. It is Bartimaeus’s persistent faith in the “Son of David” that brings him into the light. This image of light in connection with faith impressed the early Christians so deeply that they called those catechumens who were preparing to receive Baptism “Photizomenoi,” which literally means, “those who are coming into the light.” The Greek word “photismos” was used in reference to Baptism, because it was considered to be an enlightening. St. John sees the light as necessary to avoid stumbling in the darkness (John 11:10), and Bartimaeus shows us that, with Christ, we are given the light to follow him, even though it leads to the Crucifixion.
MEDITATION & DISCUSSION:
Reflect on your own life, asking the Holy Spirit to show you how sin may have blinded you and distorted your perception of reality. Share your refl ections.
In order to desire what is truly good for us, we must be in continual communication with Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and thus shows us the way to our true happiness. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to be in union with Christ, who is the Supreme Good. What do you want Jesus to do for you?
DIGGING DEEPER:
The Sacraments of HealingTwo of the seven sacraments are called the “Sacraments of Healing”: Penance and Anointing of the Sick. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick” (art. 1421).
If we are truly seeking healing and desire to be united with God, we must seek him in the sacraments that he entrusted to the Church. Jesus is waiting to meet us in these sacraments to help us continue on his way of healing, wholeness, and ultimately perfection in the Beatific Vision.
Reflections reprinted with permission from Opening the Word at Formed.org .
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