Cycle B 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Is 53:10-11; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45

Today's Gospel places before us two beautiful themes. The trust and confidence of James and John, the sons of Zabedee, in the glory of Jesus and the teaching of Jesus to be practiced in his kingdom to attain glory.

James and John, the sons of Zabedee, approached Jesus with a request: "Master, allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory. James and John witnessed many times the opposition that Jesus faced from the religious leaders; they experienced the bitterness of the clergy against Jesus; they sensed the dangers that awaited Jesus on his way ahead; in spite of them all they could still connect glory with a Galilean carpenter. This is an amazing confidence and loyalty.

 

The challenges James and John had continued to be the challenges of every Christian in every age, but they made their appearance in their contemporary forms – like challenges of dogmas, challenges raised by philosophies, challenges caused by

Cycle B 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

Today’s Gospel passage from Mark 10:17-30 speaks of the Cost of Discipleship and the Challenge of Wealth. In this passage a rich man approaches Jesus, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. His question is genuine, and he has lived a righteous life, following the commandments. Yet when Jesus calls him to deeper sacrifice—selling his possessions and giving to the poor—the man goes away sorrowful. Jesus then teaches his disciples about the difficulty of entering God's kingdom, particularly for those attached to wealth.

The challenge of wealth and attachment can be found in the Old Testament. Consider the story of King Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-11). Initially blessed with wisdom and wealth, Solomon’s heart gradually turns away from God because of his attachment to his riches and foreign wives. Though he started with a vocation as a wise ruler, his love for wealth and power caused him to lose his focus on God. He becomes an example of someone who, though gifted, strayed from his calling due to material attachments.

Another example is Lot's wife (Genesis 19:26). When God commanded Lot’s family to flee from Sodom without looking back, Lot’s wife couldn’t resist turning her gaze back to the life she was leaving. Her attachment to her past life, possibly her

Cycle B 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen 2:18-24; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16

Marriage has been a mystery throughout human history. From the time immemorial philosophers have reflected on this mystery, poets have sung about it, and religious men have glorified it. They realized that marriage is a union of man and woman in physical, mental, religious and social realms.

In their attempt to give a convincing explanation for this mystery the wise men of the ancient past gave rise to many legends. According to a Greek legend,” The original human nature was not like the present, but different.  The sexes were not two, as they are now, but originally the man and woman were together.  The primeval man was called Androgyne. He was round, his back and sides forming a circle; one head with two faces looking in opposite ways, set on a round neck and