“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” (Mark 10: 47).

This is the desperate cry of a blind man called Bartimaeus.  First lesson in today's Gospel:
#1.  "Man's extremity is God's opportunity.  Man's security is Satan's opportunity."

Jesus who encourages Bartimaeus to step forward to his presence asks him:
“What do you want me to do for you?”  (Mark 10: 51).

#2.  When you are in a court filled with a crowd of hostile jury, realize that your only hope is the mercy of God.  Don't beat about the bush.  You have a few seconds, allowed a few words to state your case.
"Jesus is calling you." (Mark 10: 49).  So far, so good for Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus who had waited for this opportunity since the day he heard the story of Jesus and His miracles from his family had rehearsed what to do when the opportunity presents itself:
“Master, I want to see.”  (Mark 10: 51).

The ever merciful Jesus never redeems in halves. With Him is always full redemption:
“Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way."  (Mark 10: 52).

It is possible that the fortunate Bartimaeus ended up being a Bishop in the early Church.

Hand over your extremities to Jesus and see what happens.

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Brothers and sisters: Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift."  (Ephesians 4: 7).

Christ gives us grace to build up the Church, His Body.
"Some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers."   And also the numerous ministries that serve the People of God.
(Ephesians 4: 11).

Just as  building a family home or a Cathedral needs the skills of carpenters, roofers, electricians, plumbers, architects, construction managers, etc so does the building the Church, the House of the Living God.  The Church is a spiritual House where each of us is both builder and living stone.

We are building a strong fortress to combat the evils of this age principally fake news.  But also "every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming." 
(Ephesians 4: 14).

Therefore "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."  (Ephesians 6: 10 - 11).

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and so it does;  and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot—and so it is."  (Luke 12: 54 - 56).

Jesus calls us hypocrites in today's Gospel for pretending that we do not notice that the world is changing rapidly and radically around us. St Augustine in his epochal prodigious work, THE CITY OF GOD expounds a Theology of History.   In summary:  Once upon a time, Rome was master of the world.  After over 500 years of continuous power, the warning signs of decay was everywhere. People decided to ignore it.  One day, the empire collapsed and tumbled down. For the next 100 years or so, the grief stricken Romans blamed Christianity for the tragedy. Since Rome fell in 407 AD, no world event similar to it has occurred.

Now we are at an inflexion point in history.  We do not have any empires today.  Are we going to witness the collapse of Christianity during our lifetime?  Pray to be open to see the Signs of the Times.  God entered a Covenant with the Israelites and they were unfaithful. Prophets after prophets warned them to come back to God.  They refused.   Their response to the prophets:  "Your message is extreme. God could never possibly do what you are saying."  One day, the northern kingdom was sent into exile and never heard of again.  In 70 AD, Rome destroyed the southern kingdom and scattered the remaining population all over the world.  In 1948, the state of Israel was formed. Today, the population of Israel is less than 3 million, a shadow of its former self.  Nothing is impossible for God.

"You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"  (Luke 12: 56).

Times and Seasons are God’s Appointment.

SeekFirstcommunity.com

Many readers have written to ask for the book HOLY SPIRIT that I referenced in the Blog of today.
All I can say is HOLY SPIRIT is written by a Jesuit, SJ and appears out of print.  I misplaced my copy and have searched for it for years.  I have read a number of other Holy Spirit books. Nothing comes close. This is a hefty book of over 400 pages.
Ask the Holy Spirit in prayer to guide you to a good book that will help you.

SeekFirstcommunity.com

Paul prays that God "may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self."  (Ephesians 3: 16).

What do you know about the Holy and Awesome Spirit?  At  the lowest point in my life, a true, reliable and credible person told me that all that I "needed is the Holy Spirit."  Although I did not see how a holy spirit could resolve all the urgent and real world issues that I faced at the time, I listened because of the authenticity of the witness.  At a book fair a couple of months earlier, I purchased a hefty book with the unglamorous title "HOLY SPIRIT" and left it in my book case to gather dust.  Call it coincidence or Providence.

After the encounter with destiny that I label today:  "All you need is the Holy Spirit", I devoured the Holy Spirit book. About ten years prior to this event, I invested heavily in self development literature of the kind of: THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON, HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE, THINK AND GROW RICH, etc.
I discovered that the HOLY SPIRIT book promises everything the popular psychology literature is selling.  The self development literature genre is still very popular today and sells $ billions every year.  People are searching for meaning, peace and happiness but are looking in the wrong places.

After reading the HOLY SPIRIT, I made a 9-day Novena.  On the 9th and final day, I followed to the letter the instructions of the slim booklet I bought for the Novena.  Voilà!  That was how the Holy Spirit which I received in Confirmation as a careless teenager was activated in me.

Paul continued to pray for the Ephesians "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3: 17).  This reminded me of what happened to me after the Holy Spirit Novena. I declared by faith that I had received the Holy Spirit.  It was confirmed minutes later from a text from the Book of Wisdom:
"I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me."  (Wisdom 7: 7).

I have never doubted this experience.  After the encounter with the Holy Spirit, I was filled with incredible joy and peace that lasted for months. I thought it would last forever.  Peter asked Jesus to allow them stay on the Mount of Transfiguration forever. It never happened.  There is work to be done.  (Matthew 17: 4).

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required."  (Luke 12: 48).

Has the Lord entrusted you with any ministry?  St Paul was very proud to say:
"You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit." (Ephesians 3: 2).
Who would blame Paul for crowing about his promotion.  He is promoted to serve the King of the Universe in a high position.

No matter what your ministry is, you also have been called to serve Jesus in His Church using the gifts He has given you. Like St Paul you will depend entirely on Jesus for the high fidelity expected of the mission.

"God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation." 
(Isaiah 12: 2 - 3).

To succeed, you must be vigilant and pray constantly. Also:
"Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come."  (Matthew 24: 42, 44).

But should you fail, God forbid,  your delinquency will provoke the humiliation of seeing the Redeemer relieving you of your duties and completing the task Himself.

"I will pasture My sheep; I Myself will give them rest, says the Lord." (Ezekiel 34: 15).

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"The holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”  (Luke 12: 12).

If I have not personally experienced this promise several times in my life, I may hesitate in believing it.  In truth, I started experiencing the guidance of the Holy Spirit long before I considered myself a committed Christian.

Here is one example.
#1.  On a Saturday night in college, I was attacked by a mob of a fraternity cult.  They threw a broken bottle on me which cut my tendon.  Charges were filed and the cult was put on trial by the university court.  It appeared that all the members of the court from the Law faculty were ex members of one fraternity or the other.  Very soon, I was treated as the culprit instead of the plaintiff.  At one point, very angry, I turned and faced the lawyers and said:  "There is no basis in law for what you have said."  That was all that I said. You could have heard a pin drop in the room.  To make a long story short, the cult was proscribed and I was paid damages.  Where did my words come from?  I know today.  From the Holy Spirit, the Voice that speaks in court. 

There is no space here for more examples but I have enjoyed regularly this sweet interventions of the Awesome Spirit.  Later when I got to know the Holy Spirit, I try to invoke His help in everything I do. My favorite prayer to the Holy Spirit is the Veni Sancte Spiritu (Come Holy Spirit...).

"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be recreated
--And You will renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray:
O God, Who did instruct the hearts of Your faithful people by the Light of Your Holy Spirit, grant that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.  Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows."  (Luke 12: 6 - 7).

How many times do we find the injunction:  "Do not be afraid" in the Bible? A cursory search gives 350 times. While this may not be exact, it is enough to demonstrate that we are too fearful and that God is deeply concerned about our foolish fears.  On one occasion, the People of God were so fearful about their future and accused God of having forsaken them. God's defense is one of the most tender words you can read anywhere:

"But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget, I will never forget you."  (Isaiah 49: 14 - 15).

Even if it were possible for a rogue mother to cast away her child, it is impossible for God to do that.  In today's Scripture, Jesus says that God is concerned about one sparrow which costs less than one penny.  His providential care for us notices every hair on our head. 

Yet in spite of such assurances, our life is full of worry.  Worry about health, family, job, possessions, etc.  In the Scripture from Hebrews, God gives us the killer word on worry about money:
"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.”  Thus we may say with confidence:
“The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?” (Hebrews 13: 5 - 6).

"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."  (Cf Psalm 95: 8)

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
who brings glad tidings of peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation!"
(Isaiah 52: 7).

Those beautiful feet upon the mountains are the feet of St Luke the Evangelist whose feast we celebrate today. St Luke abandoned his profession as a medical doctor to become an Evangelist of the Good News of Jesus Christ. He wrote two books in the New Testament, the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, an inspired and reliable history of the early Church.

St Luke besides being a faithful and true chronicler of the events in his books has a character that appeals to me very much.  He is reliable!
"Luke is the only one with me," says Paul after listing the people who abandoned him. (2 Timothy 4: 11).
This may be why God  chose Luke "to reveal by his preaching and writings
the mystery of your love for the poor."

The core of the message of St Luke is that magnificent obsession of Jesus the Christ:
"The Lord sent out disciples to proclaim throughout the towns: The kingdom of God is at hand for you."  (Cf Luke 10: 1, 9).  Through our words and works we can propagate the glorious splendor of God's Kingdom. Making known to men God's love, justice and might.

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."   (Galatians 5: 22 - 23).

The above Scripture paints the image of Jesus Christ who is filled with the Holy Spirit. It portrays also St Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr and Father of the Church.  (35 - 108 AD).
St Ignatius of Antioch was the first to use the word "Catholic" to describe the universal Church.  In letters he wrote on his way to Rome for his martyrdom under Emperor Trajan, Ignatius affirmed unequivocally the hierarchical nature of the Church founded by Jesus Christ. Below is one of his famous quotes:

"I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire."  (St Ignatius of Antioch).

In the Liturgy celebrating his life today, the Church uses one of his famous quotes:
"I am the wheat of Christ to be ground by the teeth of beasts,
that I may be found to be pure bread."  (Communion Antiphon).

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit."
(Galatians 5: 25).

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law."  (Galatians 5: 1).

Free from fears, worries and doubts.

I believe the Scriptures that Christ has set us free through His redemptive death. Why don't I feel this freedom and victory always in my life?  The Letter to the Galatians teaches that we appropriate this freedom by faith. When I am attacked by fear, worry or doubt, I declare by faith that Christ has set me free.  I walk by faith and not by sight or feeling.

What is the pathway to this freedom? Through the Spirit, we pray to receive the mercy and grace that we need.  Therefore the pathway to victory and freedom is prayer, grace and mercy.

"For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness."  (Galatians 5:5).

SeekFirstcommunity.com

----------------------------------