Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Jeremiah provides the first reading for Mass this weekend. A few facts about Jeremiah are known from the book itself. He was from Anatoth, a village only a few miles from Jerusalem, and he was the son of Hilkiah, a priest. He acted as a prophet for more than 40 years.
Being the son of a priest, he likely was familiar with ancient Hebrew religious traditions. He would have been particularly aware of the importance of the Exodus, the flight from Egypt and slavery that molded the Hebrews into one distinctive nation, and that resulted in their settlement in the Holy Land.
He would have thought that the Hebrews did not escape Egypt simply because they were lucky or clever. To the contrary, they succeeded in fleeing the miseries they had endured in Egypt only by the mercy and power of God.
Jeremiah saw events in his lifetime as threatening, or as awful, as the plight of his people centuries earlier in Egypt. He lived to see Babylonia completely overtake the Hebrew homeland and the coercion brought to bear upon his people by Babylon and other imperialistic neighbors.
He addressed these threats and the humiliation and destruction of being conquered with faith that the merciful God of the Exodus again would rescue the people. This weekend’s reading is a powerful and expressive acclamation of God’s power and goodness, and in the assurance that once more God will protect and lead the people.
As is typical of this book, this reading literarily is moving in its eloquence and feeling.
For its second reading, the Church presents a selection from the Epistle to the Hebrews.
This New Testament letter is abundant in its references to ancient Jewish beliefs and customs. Its author is unknown, but obviously knew well Judaism and Jewish life in the first century.
The high priest in the first century was supreme in Jewish worship and in many other aspects of Jewish life. He descended in office from Aaron, the brother of Moses. The high priest acted for the entire nation as he offered the sacrifice in the temple.
The Epistle to the Hebrews sees Jesus as the great high priest of the new era of salvation, the era of Christianity. Jesus acts for all humanity in sacrificing himself to God, bringing reconciliation and a new bonding after sin tore humanity away from God.
St. Mark’s Gospel furnishes the last reading. It is the story of Bartimeus, a blind man who begged by the roadside in Jericho. Bartimeus was desperate. He had to beg to survive.
At the time of Jesus, people with severe physical challenges, such as blindness, were reduced to begging unless their families assisted them.
Blindness, as all other bodily difficulties, had a spiritual component for the ancient Jews. God willed nothing evil or heartless. Disease and incapacity were signs of a grave sin that had been committed.
Thus, when Jesus healed, the effects and power of sin also were overcome.
The key to Bartimeus’ being healed was his faith.
Reflection
Jeremiah was hardly the only ancient Hebrew writer who concentrated on the mercy of God as seen in the Exodus. The people desperately needed God’s mercy and guidance.
All people, anywhere, at any time, need God’s guidance. God’s mercy is healing and restorative. Seeking it, securing it through God’s free offer of it, brings insight and clarity to decisions.
As the elections approach, turn to God to seek guidance. Make the law of God paramount. In forming opinions, the key is that we, as Bartimeus, love God and trust in him. Admit our own blindness and fears.
Imitate God’s mercy and love for all in analyzing situations discussed in the current campaigns. †