| Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
We sing in the responsorial psalm: “The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.”
It is interesting to note the words of the Lord after the blind man was healed. He didn’t say “I have healed you,” or, even, “your faith has healed you”, but “your faith has saved you.” One of the greatest things the Lord has done for us is the Gift of Faith.
Our response to the great things the Lord has done for us is joy. Joy characterizes the person of faith and the community of faith. Through the eyes of faith, the individual or the community can recognize the greatness of the Lord, even through apparently difficult times or situations.
Certainly, there are times when joy seems hard to come by. There are times in life when things do not work out well for us, maybe there is a personal illness or a beloved family member is dying; maybe our dreams and struggle for liberation have met a crucial setback; maybe a cherished project has fallen apart in our hands. Saints sometimes speak of the “dark night of the soul”, periods where faith all but abandons them for extended periods no matter how hard they try to recover it.
The community of faith plays an important role in individual dark times. The Church is truly an agent of liberation. There is the testimony of those who have been there and now have discovered again the joy that awaits on the other side. There are those whose faith has been tested to emerge with even a different, but deeper and more mature faith because of the experience.
We as a community of faith are a support and resource for those among us who find ourselves searching again. It is incumbent on communities to be beacons of faith and joy. Untold harm is done by a dour pastor; an unenthusiastic community; a despirited liturgical service; dead sermons; grim and intense lay groups; boring, “business as usual” church meetings.
During difficult times, we see only dimly the greatness of God as it reflects on human experience in all its passages and manifestation. When we find ourselves on the “dark side of the moon”, it takes a community of faith and joy to remind us of the grandeur of God there brightly shining on the other side, as always.
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