FOLLOWING THE WAY OF THE SAVIOUR

THURSDAY, EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME     

1 Pet 2:2-5,9-12; Ps 100:2-5; Mk 10:46-52

The Sacrifices of Royal Priests

We continue to follow the Apostle Peter as he leads us deeper into the mysteries we have inherited through our faith in Jesus Christ and in God, who raised him from the dead for our salvation and glorification. As we noted yesterday, the apostles, before they received the Holy Spirit and a new birth in Jesus Christ, were oblivious of the importance of the Son of Man and what they stood to gain in him. In their spiritual blindness and ignorance, they considered him a means to exalted earthly positions and material wealth and well-being. Though Jesus promised them these, as we read earlier in the current chapter, when he said that those who left family and properties for his sake would be repaid a hundred times over. But these are not the core of his promise to us who follow him; they are only attractions for our worldly-oriented interests. A worldly-minded person cannot understand the spiritual and eternal riches Jesus Christ presents to us. What the Lord added as an appendage in the description of the reward of those following him, namely, the present persecutions and eternal life in the world to come, are, in fact, the core contents of the promise. The Lord uses material riches and well-being as enticements to bring us to commit ourselves to the Way of the Saviour.

These material goods and sensible feelings associated with our possession of them constitute what Saint Peter calls milk for babies. “You are newborn, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk—the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation—now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.” Because our acquisition and use of these material goods and sensible favours are well ordered by God, they are infused with graces, which are able to purify our minds and hearts from earthly attachments to focus on the Giver of the gifts. The Lord who understands our spiritual state serves us purifications or persecutions garnished with the material goods and sensible favours. The invisible graces accompanying the visible goods and persecutions nourish and build our spirits in Jesus Christ. Yesterday, he bade us not to set our minds on material wellbeing and exalted earthly positions, but to serve others in the manner the Son of Man serves us in the course of salvation. His humanity and life are the path to true and eternal greatness and divine glory. Saint Peter echoes this teaching. “He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house.” To obtain the divine light to see and follow this Way, we must focus on Jesus Christ daily and always.

To live in ignorance of the Gospel and be mindless of Jesus Christ is to be blind, without a sense of direction, like Bartimaeus, who sat beside the road to Jericho begging for arms. But he sought sight and light when he heard of Jesus Christ. “When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’” He endured persecution and abuse to get to the Son of Man. His persecutions and trials purified his mind and heart, to distinguish what is of value from what is passing. So, when Jesus summoned him, he knew what he needed in order to follow the Way. “Then Jesus spoke, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Rabbuni,’ the blind man said to him ‘Master, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has saved you.’ And immediately his sight returned and he followed him along the road.” Our comparison of his answer and that of the two brothers, James and John, to the same question helps us to appreciate the fruits of the preceding trials and persecutions in the life of Bartimaeus. Once our gaze is fixed on the Son of Man, we join him in the service of salvation for souls. The heavenly glory and dignity follow from this, according to Peter. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” The material goods and sensible favours encourage us to lay down our bodies, but the persecutions and trials work through the graces to build up our spirits, transforming them into Christ, as we serve the course of others’ salvation as royal priests.

Let us pray: Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and that your Church may rejoice, untroubled in her devotion. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.