Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday October 24

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

1. Are We Blind?
2. Get Up! Jesus Will Open Your Eyes
3. 

Greeting (See Second Reading)

We are gathered in the name of Jesus,
of whom the Father said:
“You are my Son,
today I have become your father.”
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus
be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

Are We Blind?

Let all of us to whom God has given good eyes thank God wholeheartedly for the gift of sight. But today the Lord asks us: Do you see with the eyes of your heart what I am asking of you? Do you see the way I have shown you? Do you see the people I have placed on your way and are you aware of their needs and hungers? Do you see the beauty of the world I created and are you willing to keep it a marvel for you and your children? Let us ask the Lord in this Eucharist to open our eyes to God and people.

Get Up! Jesus Will Open Your Eyes

Sometimes we feel like blind people groping in the dark or even dazed, sitting disheartened by the side of the road. We don’t see where we stand or where we are going, we cannot discern what we have to believe or to do. If only we would turn to Jesus and ask him, “Lord, let me see again!” May he restore our eyesight so that we can follow him on the road he shows us. Let this be our prayer today in this Eucharist.

Penitential Act

How blind we have often been to God near to us
in our world, in our task, in people.
We seek now the Lord’s forgiveness.
                        (pause)
Lord Jesus, I failed to see

the needs of the people in my family:

Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord have mercy.
Jesus Christ, the hunger for warmth,
the craving for justice and human dignity
of friends and neighbors I did not notice:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, the desire of people far and near
to know you and to follow you,
even when they were not aware of it,
I did not see and I did not lead them to you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Open our eyes to your love and to people
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that the Lord may hear us
and the cries of all who appeal to him
                        (pause)
Our living God,
you are very near to us in our joys and pains.
Give us the eyes of faith and love to see
the mission you have given us in life
and the courage and grace to carry it out.
Make us also clear-sighted enough to see
the needs of people who cry out their misery
or suffer in silence,
that we may bring them your healing compassion
and lead them to you.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading: God Gathers His People Together

God gathers his people together from the far ends of the earth, even those whose faith is weak and hesitant. For he is a saving God and a Father.

Reading 1: JER 31:7-9

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.
Behold, 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.
They 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.

Responsorial Psalm: PS 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

(3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Second Reading: Jesus, the New High Priest

God himself has chosen our Savior Jesus as the new high priest. Jesus offered himself for our sins.

Reading 2: HEB 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In 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;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.

Alleluia: 2 TM 1:10

Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Lord, That I May See!

Jesus makes a blind man see again. This man is the image of every Christian; we must learn to see with eyes of faith to follow Jesus.

Gospel: MK 10:46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. 
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 
Jesus 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." 
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." 
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

Intercessions

Let us pray to Jesus, who restored the sight of the blind, that with him we may see the needs of our brothers and sisters everywhere. Let us say:

R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

–   Lord, see the eyes of the child that open to life; see the eyes full of hope of those who believe in your future and fill them with your light, we pray:

     R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

–   Lord, see the joy in the eyes of those who know how to love; see the eyes full of hatred of those who are frustrated, we pray:

     R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

–   Lord, see the sad eyes of those who suffer; see the lifeless eyes of those who are physically blind, we pray:

     R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

–   Lord, see the discouraged eyes of those who give up on life; see the fire in the eyes of those who continue the fight, we pray:

     R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

–   See the eyes of those who are shut to people; see the eyes full of tears of those who mourn for those they loved, we pray:

     R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.

Lord Jesus, make us open our eyes, our hands, our heart and so we can look on this world and on people with the same gentle eyes as you, who are our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
the whole world is a sign of you:
Your beauty is reflected in every flower
and each ray of the sun shines with your light.
Give each of us a grateful heart
that rejoices in simple things.
Give us new eyes to discover
in these signs of bread and wine
the love and the life of Jesus your Son
and give us faith to see how good it is
to be your people in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

God called us out of the darkness of sin into the light of faith and his love. Led by Jesus, our light and life, we give our joyful thanks to the Father.

Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer

God says to us today
that he is a Father to his people.
Let us pray to him in the words of Jesus: R/ Our Father...

Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus,
you give strength and joy and light
to those who want to follow you.
Make the lame jump for joy,
restore the sight of the blind,
set all the captives free
and bring to all who suffer
the hope and peace of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord,
who meets us on the road.
Happy are we that he comes
to heal us from our blindness
and to call us to follow him. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

God, our loving Father,
we have heard and seen your son
and recognized him
in the breaking of bread.
Help us to see in his light
what is right and what is wrong in us.
Make us understand the deeper meaning
of suffering and pain.
And one day show us yourself as you are,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Blessing

We have heard in this Eucharist
how the Lord gives new light to dead eyes.
A blind man sees and follows the Lord.
May the Lord make us people
who see with eyes of faith.
May the Lord help us to see the road to follow
and to recognize the Lord in our life.
May he give us the joy to follow him.
And may almighty God bless all of you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Go in peace and let the Lord’s light shine on you. R/ Thanks be to God.

Commentary

Mission Sunday

We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20). This is the theme Pope Francis has chosen for this year’s World Mission Sunday. Our experience of Christ and his love and mercy fails to have any meaning until we choose to share it with others. “Once we experience the power of God’s love, we cannot help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard,” the pope wrote in his message for the Mission Sunday.

Today’s passage from Mark’s Gospel indicates the mission we are called upon to perform: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.” The good news should be announced, “to every creature.” It is the message of life and love. On this Mission Sunday, let us be reminded of our mission towards the universe – our common home. That is why Climate Action should be considered an integral part of our life as Christians. Destroying nature is a sin and caring for the nature is our mission.

In the second part of the passage (vs. 17-18) Mark lists five signs through which the Risen Christ manifests his presence: “Those who have believed will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

These unusual wonders seems strange, difficult to see and extremely rare to happen. The prophets used these and such other images as symbolisms to describe the messianic times and the new world. We hear in the prophecy of Isaiah: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will rest beside the kid. By the cobra’s den, the infant will play” (Is 11:6-8). Isaiah did not intend to announce a phenomenal change of the aggressive and dangerous nature of animals. He promised the end of the struggles and enmities that exist in the world. In the kingdom of God, there would be no place for hostility, rivalry, mutual aggression among people.

The concluding sentence of Mark’s Gospel: “… The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it” (v. 20) testifies to the belief of the first disciples of not being alone, but always having the Lord Jesus next to them.

World Mission Sunday brings us three points to reflect:
1. Remember with gratitude all the missionaries of the past and the present for their commitment to the cause of the Gospel and pray for them.
2. Join hands in support of the mission through prayers and material help.
3. The Church reminds us: “You are a missionary.”

October 24 is also the memoria of St. Antony Mary Claret, a man on fire with God’s love, dedicated his life to make the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed through all possible means. He founded the missionary congregation of the Sons of the Heart of Mary, who are also known as the Claretian Missionaries. On this Mission Sunday, join the efforts of the missionaries, and support the mission of proclaiming the Gospel.