By Shanborlang Mawrie csc –
Readings: Jer 31: 7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52
We are on the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Catholic Church celebrates the World Mission Sunday. The significance of this day is that the Church invites all of us to renew our commitment and take charge of the mission of God to spread love across all humanity.
The world is uncertain as people are killing each other or are dying out of hunger without a single meal a day and the plants and animals are crying for some care. The darkness has overshadowed this world with a sense of hopelessness prevailing among people. At this juncture, they are crying for help to be pulled out from the valley of darkness like Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in the gospel who wanted to be healed.
As Christians, we claim to be followers of Christ or another Christ in this world. But do we have the courage to say like Jesus, ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ Or are we like the others who rebuke this blind man asking him to be quiet? Though we are imperfect beings, if we have faith in God and put our trust in him who is perfect, he will grant us the grace to do his mission because we are his hands, legs, ears, eyes, and mouth in this world. Through us, God will work wonders by making the impossible things possible.
One thing we should remember is that we are chosen by God from among many others for a specific purpose. The purpose is to continue his mission; not that we have to do great work but just small things like praying for others, helping physically or financially, lifting up the poor and the downtrodden, and making them realize the presence of God in everything. This is how we give ourselves to the mission of God.