Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Memorial of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi, priest of the Church of Palermo, who was killed by mafia in 1993.
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Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Memorial of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi, priest of the Church of Palermo, who was killed by mafia in 1993.
First Reading
Isaiah 53,10-11
It was Yahweh's good pleasure to crush him with pain; if he gives his life as a sin offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his life, and through him Yahweh's good pleasure will be done. After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content. By his knowledge, the upright one, my servant will justify many by taking their guilt on himself.
Psalmody
Psalm 32
Antiphon
Praise the Lord for his unfailing love.
Ring our your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly with all your skill.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
By his word the heavens were made
by the breath of his mouth all the stars.
He collects the waves of the ocean;
he stores up the depths of the sea.
Let all the earth fear the Lord,
all who live in the world revere him.
He spoke; and it came to be.
He commanded; it sprang into being.
He frustrates the designs of the nations,
He defeats the plans of the peoples.
His own designs shall stand for ever
and the plans of his heart from age to age.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.
From the place where he dwells he gazes
on all the dwellers of the earth,
he who shapes the hearts of them all
and considers all their deeds.
A king is not saved by his army
nor a warrior preserved by his strength,
A vain hope for safety is the horse;
despite its power it cannot save.
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope
Second Reading
Hebrews 4,14-16
Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must hold firm to our profession of faith. For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin. Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when we are in need of help.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Mark 10,35-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. 'Master,' they said to him, 'We want you to do us a favour.' He said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?' They said to him, 'Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I shall drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' They replied, 'We can.' Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I shall drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.' When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, 'You know that among the gentiles those they call their rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
Mark tells us about Jesus talking to James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. We are still on the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus, for the third time, confided in his disciples that he is fated to die at the end of his journey. The two disciples are not touched at all by their Master's tragic words, and come forward and ask Jesus to grant two seats next to him when he establishes his kingdom. Confronted with the two disciples' claim, Jesus answers, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" Jesus wants to explain to them what the Gospel demands though the two symbols, the cup and baptism. Jesus interprets both symbols in relation to his death. The cup is the symbol of God's wrath, as Isaiah writes: "Rouse yourself, rouse yourself! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering" (Is 51:17). Jesus' metaphor means he has accepted God's judgement for the evil of the world, even at the cost of death. Likewise, the symbol of baptism, "All your waves and your billows have gone over" (Ps 42:7). With these two images, Jesus shows that he is not seeking a successful career of power. In fact, he is taking on humanity's sin, as John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
Probably the two disciples are not even listening to what the Master says, and even less do they understand its meaning. The two disciples do not care about understanding the Gospel word. They want to be granted a place and they answer, "We are able!" The answer as well the request of the two sons of Zebedee roused the other disciples' envy. On their own, the disciples, just like everyone else, are inclined to be self-schooled and self-sufficient. For Christians the opposite is true: disciples keep learning at their master's school. Even if they get responsible positions, both in the Church and in society, they will continue being the Lord's children, that is, disciples sitting at Jesus' feet.
That's why Jesus is gathering the Twelve again and teaching them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you." The instinct of power takes strong roots in people's hearts. Nobody, even in the Christian community, is exempt from this temptation. Jesus keeps telling his disciples, "But it is not so among you." It is not a crusade against power. The power and authority the Gospel is telling us about is the power of love. Jesus explains it not only by words declaring: "whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant," but also by means of his life. He remarks about himself, "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." This is how all his disciples must behave.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
