Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We like to believe that we are free and in control. But not a day goes by where we do not feel the urge to obey some modern version of one of the seven deadly sins. We joke about living in bondage to our smartphones, blind to the truth that our digital utopia is just the latest incarnation of mammon. We are slaves, all of us. But we are slaves with the power to choose our owner. We can keep serving corrupt masters who entice us with the sweet illusion of autonomy and other pretty lies. Or we can submit to a Lord and their family who offer us the pain and joy of sacrifice. It is no mystery as to why so few of us choose the latter. But it should also be no mystery as to which of them will in the end leave us by the roadside in humiliation. So place your trust in our Parent and their children, "confidently approach the throne of grace", and you will receive kindness beyond all measure.

Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalms 33:4-22; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

"You do not know what you are asking." We pray for power and justice according to our terms, but God does not live by our terms. True power is mercy and true justice is sacrifice. The ways of Love appear as foolishness and failure to our eyes, but God can see far beyond our frame of vision. They do not want guardians of truth, nor do they desire servant-leaders for the people. They call us to be slaves to Love. Resist this call if you must, but be wary of the master you choose to serve instead, for her power is quickly exhausted and his justice does not linger long.