The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to trust our perception of God in nature and in the people we encounter.
Trust God reflected in Nature
The reading from the Book of Sirach urges us to see the works of God in Nature.
* [42:15–43:33] These verses comprise another hymn; cf. 16:24–18:14. In them Ben Sira contemplates God’s power, beauty, and goodness as manifested in the mighty work of creating and preserving the universe (42:15–17, 22–25; 43:1–26), his omniscience (42:18–20), perfect wisdom and eternity (42:21). The conclusion is a fervent hymn of praise (43:27–31).1
Psalm 33 declares “By the LORD’s word the heavens were made”.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22).2
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus saves the blind Bartimaeus.
* [10:46–52] See notes on Mt 9:27–31 and 20:29–34.3
Luis Rodriguez, S.J. comments that Jesus asks the blind man to name his need and to own it without pretending that he is not in need.
The blind man does not make a “creed” profession of faith, like you are the Messiah, but he has trust. Scripture uses the same Greek word –pistis– both for trust and for faith, and Jesus counts the man’s trust as faith: your faith has saved you.4
Don Schwager quotes “Your Word will enlighten and save me,” by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"The commandment of the Lord shines clearly, enlightening the eyes. Receive Christ, receive power to see, receive your light, that you may plainly recognize both God and man. More delightful than gold and precious stones, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the Word that has enlightened us (Psalm 19:10). How could he not be desirable, who illumined minds buried in darkness, and endowed with clear vision 'the light-bearing eyes' of the soul? ... Sing his praises, then, Lord, and make known to me your Father, who is God. Your Word will save me, your song instruct me. I have gone astray in my search for God; but now that you light my path, Lord, I find God through you, and receive the Father from you, I become co-heir with you, since you were not ashamed to own me as your brother. Let us, then, shake off forgetfulness of truth, shake off the mist of ignorance and darkness that dims our eyes, and contemplate the true God, after first raising this song of praise to him: 'All hail, O light!' For upon us buried in darkness, imprisoned in the shadow of death, a heavenly light has shone, a light of a clarity surpassing the sun's, and of a sweetness exceeding any this earthly life can offer." (excerpt from EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS 11.8)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 10:46-52 comments that “Son of David” was no ordinary title. It pointed to the Messiah, a descendant of David who would come to establish an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Bartimaeus had likely heard of Jesus’ miracles and his teachings. But when he used this name for Jesus, he was professing that Jesus was more than a gifted rabbi or a prophet. He was the fulfillment of God’s promises. When Bartimaeus cried out, it was a cry of faith in Jesus, anointed by God, the one who could heal and restore him: Jesus, Son of David.
When you pray today, stand in wonder at who Jesus is. As you cry out to him, let the truths about his power and goodness sink into your heart. Let them give you confidence as you bring your needs to him. He is the one who has forgiven you and made you a child of God. He hears your cries and is filled with compassion for you. Don’t give up. Jesus in his kindness is surely ready to stop and call you to his side. Jesus, Son of David . . . “Have mercy on me, Lord! I believe that you are Son of David and Son of God.”6
Friar Jude Winkler explains how Sirach describes the great God in Creation. Awe and wonder are responses to the mystery and splendour of God. Friar Jude reminds us of the importance of persistence in prayer illustrated in the saving of Bartimaeus.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces scholar and activist Liza Rankow who has centered her work in spirituality and justice on the teachings of Howard Thurman. Hers is a clear explanation of the radical connection between mysticism and social action, which is at the core of the message at the CAC. She credits the prophetic Howard Thurman as her teacher, one who “recognized an inherent oneness that breathes through all life and being.” [1].
There is a stereotype of mystics seeking to escape the world, concerned only with the ecstasy of their own experience of union with the Divine; yet in that union is a doorway that opens out into everything and everyone. The experience of oneness brings us back into relationship with the allness. The oneness and the allness inter-be (to return to the term from Thich Nhat Hanh). Thus we feel deeply the wounds of a battered world, and the suffering and the needs of the people—including, as Thurman puts it in Jesus and the Disinherited, those “with their backs against the wall”—the disenfranchised, the marginalized and the oppressed. [2] Inaction is not an option. The mystic worldview creates an ethical mandate, and it offers a new way to enter the world of social transformation—from the position of oneness rather than dualism. It shifts the paradigm. . . .7
We connect with the Divine in Nature and our trust in God is deepened in prayer.
References
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