Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

OCTOBER 20, 2024

GOSPEL MEDITATION

From a young age, I loved winning at sports. I confess that winning was a bit of an addiction. It was probably coming from a deep desire for attention and
affirmation from others. Nevertheless, it was a driving motivation for me. Baseball, soccer, track, table tennis, and whatever else I could find was a chance to win. Competition was my obsession.

Another John, and his brother James, demonstrate a kind of wildly competitive obsession when they dare to say to Jesus: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). Their audacity arouses an indigent reaction from the other apostles, who are clearly raw that these two are out to win the highest spots.

How does Jesus respond to us in our desires for greatness? The same way he does to James and John. He does not criticize them for their desire for glory. But he does highlight their ignorance (“you do not know what you are asking.”). Then he invites them to be champions of true greatness: by drinking not the cup of worldly victory, but his cup of self-giving suffering love, to be the “slave of all.” The true winners are slaves of love. This week, dare to tell Jesus what your ambitions truly are. Hear him call you to an even greater victory.

– Father John Muir

A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

“Advice” books abound on marriage and parenting. Jesus tells us in today’s gospel the real secret: satisfying relationships depend on how well we sacrifice our needs to serve others. It is not about “getting,” it’s about “giving” ourselves. If you feel like you are a servant to your children and spouse, then you are doing it right.

– Bud Ozar

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP

Our readings today convey how deeply God understands our weaknesses and sufferings, and how we are called to imitate Him through humility and service.

Our culture constantly encourages us to do what we can to get ahead in this world, to do what feels good, no matter the effects – as if that power, authority, and wealth should be goals in life. Our faith offers us something different and fulfilling – a life of humility and service. As Christian stewards, we are called to live our lives in service of God and neighbor, just as Jesus did. Our life is not about us. It is about fulfilling God’s glorious plan for each one of us.

Today, let us recall that we have a loving God who completely understands us and sympathizes with us. He is waiting for us to call on Him for mercy and strength. Yet, let us also recall that our God challenges us to be imitators of Him by becoming humble servants for God and neighbor.

 2024 Catholic Stewardship Consultants

 

PRACTICING CATHOLIC – RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

There are several moments throughout the calendar year when we are tricked into thinking we can reinvent ourselves. One of them is New Year’s Day. The barista at my coffee shop told me that they sell more decaf coffee in January than in the entirety of the remaining year, because everyone is swearing off caffeine. By February, she said, the trend subsides: folks have realized they’re not actually superheroes just because the last digit of the year has increased by one.

The beginning of a new school year is another of those moments. Every pencil is freshly sharpened, and every lesson plan is painstakingly plotted. Our heads are full of what we plan to do this year, how we plan to do it, who we plan to become. But by May, the wind is out of our sails. We’ve learned the concepts, we’ve used up the pencils, yes — but we’ve remembered that underneath it all we’re basically the same people, with the same shortcomings and the same obstacles as we always were. The only difference in September was we had new planners.

The truth is that we cannot reinvent ourselves. We can’t change ourselves at all, not on New Year’s Day or the first day of school or on our 40th birthday or after quitting a bad habit. We are what we are: blind in some ways, deaf in others, crippled in still more, moving through life with uncertainty, stumbling in the dark.

People don’t change. Not without miracles.

But being a Christian means believing in miracles and being ready for them at any moment — in January or in September, in the middle of a hopeless week or at the end of a bad day, when you feel strong and when you don’t, when you want to be better and when you feel too tired to try. No, we can’t change ourselves, but we can be changed. There is one who can change us if we will let him. He is waiting — now, tomorrow, yesterday, next week. The time is always right for a miracle. “He put his finger into the man’s ears … and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’— that is, ‘Be opened!’