29th Sunday Ordinary Time

Jesu s shows us the way to give glory to the Father: become the servant of ll and give our lives for others. The first reading today is from the Prophet Isaih. He is very clear that even long before the time of Jesus, a deeply religious person could see that one person could take o suffering for the good of others. And the person who does that will have many come after who are able to live in the light of God. A truly righteous person can offer himself for theirs and even carry the sins of others in soke mysterious way. We see that gift of self -offering in the life of Jesus. We are also called to share in that self-offering.

Thee Second reading continues the same theme. We have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. There is a lesson here for all of us. Even if we have sinned, we often find that we can sympathize with others and even help others without sinning. We can sometimes learn from our struggles with sin to offer ourselves es for others and to give insight about the struggle with sin.

The Gospel from St. Mark gives us two teachings. One is about wanting spiritual gifts. Jesus is clear that we can have spiritual gifts. What our role in the final kingdom of heaven will be is already prepared. Our role to do the Father's will in this life and to trust that what the Father gives us in heaven will be completely wonderful and beyond anything we can imagine.

Probably many of us never think about our role in heaven or what we will do there. The challenge is simply to love God in this life and leave the future to the Lord. If we follow the Lord Jesus, we will surely suffer. Yet at the same time we will share more intimately in His life. In the life to come, we will not be jealous or even want to be anything other than we are. We will be loved beyond all that we can imagine.

So let us be servants to one another, seeking only to love one another and to do what will benefit the other. Let us walk with Jesus and accept the suffering that must come if we are truly loving others