Word Wide Open: The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) - 10/24/21

First Reading (Jeremiah 31:7-9)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.

Thus says the LORD:

    Shout with joy for Jacob,

        exult at the head of the nations;

        proclaim your praise and say:

    The LORD has delivered his people,

        the remnant of Israel.

    Behold, I will bring them back

        from the land of the north;

    I will gather them from the ends of the world,

        with the blind and the lame in their midst,

    the mothers and those with child;

        they shall return as an immense throng.

    They departed in tears,

        but I will console them and guide them;

    I will lead them to brooks of water,

        on a level road, so that none shall stumble.

    For I am a father to Israel,

        Ephraim is my first-born.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How does God always guide us back to Himself? How can we come back to God when we are far away?


Second Reading (Hebrews 5:1-6)

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.

Brothers and sisters:

Every high priest is taken from among men

and made their representative before God,

to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,

for he himself is beset by weakness

and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself

as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor upon himself

but only when called by God,

just as Aaron was.

In the same way,

it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,

but rather the one who said to him:

    You are my son:

        this day I have begotten you;

just as he says in another place:

    You are a priest forever

        according to the order of Melchizedek.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How are we all called to be priests? How do priests do the things in this reading?

Gospel (Mark 10:46-52)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,

Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,

sat by the roadside begging.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,

he began to cry out and say,

"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. 

But he kept calling out all the more,

"Son of David, have pity on me."

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called the blind man, saying to him,

"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."

He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" 

The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." 

Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." 

Immediately he received his sight

and followed him on the way.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? How does having faith save us? How should we ask Jesus for things?