{"id":1708,"date":"2015-10-25T13:34:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-25T17:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1708"},"modified":"2015-10-25T13:34:10","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T17:34:10","slug":"30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/30th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

30th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nJeremiah 31:7-9
\nPsalm 126:1-6
\nHebrews 5:1-6
\nMark 10:46-52
\nOctober 25, 2015<\/p>\n

Today we hear of Jesus doing another miracle healing.\u00a0 This time it is the healing of Bartimaeus who is blind.\u00a0 Without a doubt this is a wonderful thing for Bartimaeus but is it all Jesus is for us, a healer<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Jesus is indeed a healer.\u00a0 He is also a teacher and a preacher, helping us to know how God calls us to live.\u00a0 Jesus reveals God\u2019s will to us.\u00a0 His role as teacher and preacher is as important as his role as healer.<\/p>\n

Yet these are not the central title used in the Letter to the Hebrews<\/em>.\u00a0 Hebrews<\/em> describes Jesus as the high priest.\u00a0 Yet we know Jesus never took on the role of priest in the Temple.\u00a0 We never see Jesus take on the role of priest until his death.\u00a0 Even then it is not in the role of priest as called for in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

What is the role of a priest?\u00a0 There are many facets to what a priest did back then and what a priest does today.\u00a0 Ultimately the word is rooted in one who offers sacrifice.<\/p>\n

In the Old Testament this was the sacrifice of animals that the priest made on behalf of the people.\u00a0 As Hebrews<\/em> points out the priests had the same weaknesses as other humans and had to make sacrifices for themselves as well as for others.\u00a0 Priests are not perfect.\u00a0 I am not perfect. That\u2019s why I go to Confession too.<\/p>\n

So, in Jesus\u2019 day, the priests were continuing to offer the animal sacrifices in the Temple.\u00a0 Yet, this is not the sacrifice that Jesus offered for us.\u00a0 Jesus did not sacrifice animals.\u00a0 Jesus was not a <\/em><\/strong>priest.\u00a0 Jesus is the <\/em><\/strong>priest.\u00a0 What is his sacrifice?<\/p>\n

It is the sacrifice of his own life on the Cross.\u00a0 It is by this sacrifice that Jesus fulfills what Jeremiah spoke of \u201cThe Lord has delivered his people.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 It is by the sacrifice of his own life that Jesus sets us free from our sins, restoring us to what we were created for.<\/p>\n

Jesus is a healer, a preacher, and a teacher but we can only truly understand who Jesus is when we see him on the Cross.\u00a0 This is why that throughout the early parts of Mark\u2019s Gospel Jesus keeps saying for others not to tell people who he is.\u00a0 It cannot be understood until they seem him crucified.<\/p>\n

The sacrifices of the Old Testament had to be repeated over and over as the people continued to sin.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 sacrifice on the Cross never needs to be repeated.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 sacrifice is a perfect sacrifice just as he is perfect.\u00a0 There is no new need for a new sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Yet, we still have priests today.\u00a0 I know because I am one.\u00a0 If there is no new <\/em>sacrifice offered after Jesus\u2019 sacrifice on the Cross, what does a priest do today?<\/p>\n

As a priest, I offer the sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, and the Anointing of the Sick.\u00a0 I teach and I preach.\u00a0 As pastor, I lead.\u00a0 There is another sacrament over which I preside as a priest.\u00a0 It is the Eucharist<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Our celebration of the Eucharist includes a sacrifice.\u00a0 I said before that there is no new sacrifice after Jesus so how can the Eucharist be a sacrifice?<\/p>\n

It is a sacrifice but not a new<\/em> sacrifice.\u00a0 It is not a reenactment like a play of what Jesus did.\u00a0 The sacrifice we offer today in our celebration of the Eucharist is the same sacrifice that Jesus offered 2,000 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

God makes present today what Jesus did on the Cross and at the Last Supper.\u00a0 What did Jesus say at the Last Supper?\u00a0 This is my Body which will be given up for you.\u00a0 This is my blood that will be shed for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Eucharist and the Crucifixion are one event along with the Resurrection.\u00a0 They must all be understand in light of each other.<\/p>\n

Where does leave me as a priest?\u00a0 I preside over the sacraments by which we receive God\u2019s grace but it is God who really makes it all happen.\u00a0 A priest today is the visible sign that God gives us to see him at work in our lives.\u00a0 God does this for us.\u00a0 In our humanness we need physical signs to see God at work in our lives.\u00a0 God works through \u201cthings\u201d in the Sacraments like water, oil, and transubstantiates the bread and wine into Jesus\u2019 Body and Blood.\u00a0 God does this all through a human priest to be a sign of what he does for us.<\/p>\n

That is why being a priest is a calling<\/em>.\u00a0 It is not just a job one chooses on their one to do.\u00a0 It is God who chooses his priests.<\/p>\n

I am a priest.\u00a0 Jesus is the<\/strong> priest.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126:1-6 Hebrews 5:1-6 Mark 10:46-52 October 25, 2015 Today we hear of Jesus doing another miracle healing.\u00a0 This time it is the healing of Bartimaeus who is blind.\u00a0 Without a doubt this is a wonderful thing for Bartimaeus but is it all Jesus is for …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[113,82],"tags":[145],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-ry","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1708"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1710,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1708\/revisions\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}