Author: jppc

20 -Week Club Winner(s)

Week 1—Jerri Matracia- Ticket #78

Week 2—Mary Anne Ferreira—Ticket #77

Week 3—Marjorie Rogue—Ticket #8

Week #4 -Anita Maruffi – Ticket #110

Week #5- Rosalie Ciacciarelli—Ticket #49

Week #6– Elaine Milkaitis-Ticket #23

20 Week Club Dinner Dance: January 25th, 2025

 

October 27, 2024 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson

For a while the watchword was simple: “Don’t leave home without your cell phone.” But now there is a codicil: “You’ll need your GPS.” The letters stand for “Global Positioning System” a once military property that tells you o not only where you are, but also how to get to somewhere else. It removes the fear of getting lost. I for one am grateful for this technology and the clever people who developed it. I do have to say that some of the technology available now urges believers to put restraint on certain technology that violates Christian moral teachings when it comes to some life issues. I’m glad to have a map and a voice to accompany it, but I and we must push back any technology that favors matters like abortion and euthanasia.

We read in Mark’s gospel today about a physically handicapped man living at a time with no technology at hand to bring healing from blindness. But Jesus brought complete healing. So now what should the man do? He decides to follow his healer on the way. “The way” at that time was the name our earliest Christian ancestors described their new religion. So, St. Mark brings a new dimension to the story. It changes from a “healing story” to a “call story.” In other words, the man didn’t just pick up his former lifestyle, that of an ordinary sighted person. This might have meant pursuing a career in a given field. No, what Bartimaeus decided on was to follow Jesus to wherever that led. Complete trust of the kind we poor sinners can only strive for in hope.

A detail we might miss but caught by certain commentators is the fact that the “garment” or “cloak” Barti maeus threw away just may have been the cloth he used to spread before him to collect people’s offerings as they passed him. It suggests that Bartimaeus was leaving behind “the old order.” That’s exactly what we’re called to do, for example, after we have made a good confession.

We first face the fact that every sin we commit, small or big, venial or mortal, involves a certain degree of temporary “blindness.” We had forgotten to see or chose not to see God’s way. “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” The wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Penance, or Confession (the names describe the same sacrament) is the cure. The Holy Spirit provides direction for us in our newly forgiven hearts and souls. Even before receiving the sacramental grace, we know the name of “the way.” We just need to recheck those directions we need to get there. I suggest here and now a new meaning for the letters “GPS,” namely: “God Provides for Sinners.”

There’s an old hymn about that very truth that Bartimaeus would have liked:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now am found, Was blind but now I see.”

God love you and give you, His peace.