Sunday, October 18, 2009

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:
[3]

Reading 1:
Isaiah 53:10-11

The LORD was pleased
to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin,
he shall see his descendants in a long life,
and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction
he shall see the light in fullness
of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
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Commentary on
Is 53:10-11

This part of the “suffering servant” discourse describes how the servant becomes the “sin offering”, a sacrifice in the Jewish tradition in atonement for sins. In this case we are told, “…through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.

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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

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. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
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Commentary on
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Psalm 33 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. In this selection the emphasis is on faithfulness to God who has saving power combined with hope, a central component of faith in God.

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Reading II:
Hebrews 4:14-16

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
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Commentary on
Heb 4:14-16

In the Book of Hebrews we hear the author comparing Christ to the Jewish High Priest who is esteemed and pampered because of his rank. Jesus, on the other hand was tested and found to be sinless. The great compassion of the Lord provides endless mercy to those who ask for aid.

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Gospel
Longer Form:
Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
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Commentary on
Mk 10:35-45

Just prior to this Gospel passage Jesus makes the third prediction of the Passion in St. Mark’s Gospel. The sons of Zebedee take this opportunity (thinking the time for Christ to come into glory was imminent) to ask for places of honor when he assumes his place. The Lord responds with the metaphors of “drinking the cup he will drink” and “being baptized with the baptism with which he will be baptized” symbolic of his passion and death. When the brothers respond in the affirmative, Jesus predicts that they will follow him in martyrdom but that only God can give them the places of honor they request.

When the disciples become upset at James and John, Jesus uses the opportunity to explain “servant leadership”. Unlike secular leaders who autocratically order their subjects about, the servant leader comes to lead by example and service to those being lead. He concludes by describing his own role “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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OR
Shorter Form:
Mark 10:42-45

Jesus summoned the twelve and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
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Commentary on
Mk 10:42-45

The shorter form of the Gospel serves to explain “servant leadership”. Unlike secular leaders who autocratically order their subjects about, the servant leader comes to lead by example and service to those being lead. He concludes by describing his own role “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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Reflection:

St. Mark brings into focus a characteristic unique to Christianity; the concept of servant leadership. At the time Jesus walked among us as man, when a person assumed a position of authority, generally achieved either through heredity, intense and often brutal competition, or some combination of the two, the mindset that accompanied that rise to power was self-interest.

The non-Christian leaders demanded single-minded loyalty from those subordinate to them. The moral code they followed provided rules for those they governed, supervised or lead that did not apply to them. The purpose of their leadership had one goal; to make leader as comfortable as possible and to insure that every whim of the leader and their family could be met through the wealth and power amassed. In short the motive for leadership was greed. Does this leadership style sound familiar?

It should, because as much as we would like to think that the Christian foundation of the United States of America has developed an enlightened leadership style and management practices with those underlying Christian principles of service to others and responsibility for those being led; what has evolved over the past 50 years is the same “pagan” leadership paradigm that has existed in different forms since the time of Christ.

Today the modern industrial leader in publicly held companies, in order to keep his large salary and more importantly his stock options, must achieve one major goal. He or she must, on a quarterly basis, enhance shareholder equity. That means the people and institutions that hold the company’s shares of stock must be satisfied that the value of those shares does not just remain stagnant but go up, the faster the better. And when that is all the leadership of a company cares about, essentially greed for themselves and the greed of the stock holders, every other Christian principle may be sacrificed. The good of the employees becomes secondary, the quality and utility of the product or service is also subservient to the “bottom line”.

This is not an indictment of Capitalism, but it is an indictment of greed and greed, unfortunately also has found its way into our political system as well. As our country has grown and our laws become more complex, the political leadership has also evolved. It became necessary to raise money to advertise a political candidate’s views and those who contributed the money felt that the candidate owed them views that were in their best interests.

Christian values in the political context were viable only as long as the people with money to support the candidates thought they were valuable. In today’s culture the successful candidate must be a master of compromise and unfortunately greed drives them to compromise in ethical and moral areas that Christ would say has insured them a home in “Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (
Mark 9: 47-48)

James and John, although their motives were not for material greed, had desires for positions of honor in the Heavenly Kingdom (we assume they understood that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world). The Lord took this as a moment when he needed to teach the disciples that among Christians, the ideology of greed must have no place. Using himself as an example he told them that with responsibility comes the need for humility and leadership through example must be their model.

We pray today for those who have compromised and we include ourselves in that prayer. May God help us to serve appropriately and may he also give us the grace to be served by him, the servant of all mankind.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Miser” by Hendrick Gerritsz Pot, 1640s
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

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