Thursday, October 29, 2015

Healing begins from faith


October 25, 2015

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B


Readings    


7For thus says the LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered His people, the remnant of Israel.

8Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, The mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng.

9They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.


1When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we thought we were dreaming. 2Then our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD had done great things for them.” 3The LORD has done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were! 4Restore our captives, LORD, like the dry stream beds of the Negeb.

5Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy. 6Those who go forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed, Will return with cries of joy, carrying their bundled sheaves.


1Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices[1] for sins. [2] 2He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness [3] 3and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people.

4No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified Himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to Him: "You are my son; this day I have begotten you"; 6 just as he says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."[4]


46They came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.[5]

47On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." 48And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."

49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." 

50He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." 52Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.



Notes on Readings:

[1] Hebrews 5:1 - To offer gifts and sacrifices for sins: the author is thinking principally of the Day of Atonement rite, as is clear from Hebrews 9:7. This ritual was celebrated to atone for "all the sins of the Israelites"(Leviticus 16:34).

[2] Hebrews 5:1-10 - The true humanity of Jesus (see the footnote on Hebrew 2:5-18) makes him a more rather than a less effective high priest to the Christian community. In Old Testament tradition, the high priest was identified with the people, guilty of personal sin just as they were (Hewbrews 5:1-3). Even so, the office was of divine appointment (Hebrews 5:4), as was also the case with the sinless Christ (Hebrews 5:5). For Hebrews 5:6, see the footnote on Psalm 110:4 . Although Jesus was Son of God, he was destined as a human being to learn obedience by accepting the suffering he had to endure Hebrews 5:8 . Because of his perfection through this experience of human suffering, he is the cause of salvation for all (Hebrews 5:9), a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:10; compare with Hebrews 5:6 and Hebrews 7:3.

[3] Hebrews 5:2 - Deal patiently: the Greek word metriopathein occurs only here in the Bible; this term was used by the Stoics to designate the golden mean between excess and defect of passion. Here it means rather the ability to sympathize.

[4] Hebrews 5:6-8 - The author of Hebrews is the only New Testament writer to cite Psalm 110:4 , here and in  Hebrews 7:1721 to show that Jesus has been called by God to His role as priest. Hebrews 5:7-8 deal with His ability to sympathize with sinners, because of His own experience of the trials and weakness of human nature, especially fear of death. In His present exalted state, weakness is foreign to Him, but He understands what we suffer because of His previous earthly experience.

[5] Mark 10:46 See the footnotes on Matthew 9:27-31   and 20:29-34.

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Dear Humanity,

I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.

And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.

Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.