Lord We Place Our Trust in You: Reflections on the Readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Trust. What makes us trust one another or trust anything? The knowledge that the person or object (e.g., our car, gravity) can be relied upon to deliver when called upon. But deliver what? Hope enters into this equation. And faithfulness. With our faith and trust we hope to be delivered into eternal life.

The first reading starts right off with suffering. It is another part of the Suffering Servant discourse by Isaiah. There seems to be a disconnect here. Why should the knowledge of coming suffering cause us to trust? Because suffering has a purpose. Its purpose is to deliver redemption and atonement for others, for the sins of the world. In the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy we pray, “Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

This is the least we can do in return for the suffering Jesus did on our behalf. Earlier in this chapter of Isaiah it reads, “But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.” Suffering has healing power. Think of all of the saints who could heal others but they themselves experienced suffering that they could not eliminate (e.g., St. Padre Pio).

And suffering has its reward. “If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.” The reward is not a physical one here on earth, but a supernatural one in our heavenly home, to which we should all aspire.

Knowing this, and as a matter of faith, we put our trust in the Lord. As the responsorial psalm tells us, “Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy.” If we follow the Old Testament we know that when Israel followed the will of God, they enjoyed bounty, peace, and success. However, when they defied God, things got bad, until they returned to His ways. This should be enough for us to understand why the psalmist says, “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.”

The second reading, from Hebrews, talks about priesthood and, specifically, the priesthood of Christ. And what is the function of the priest? A priest offers sacrifice. In the Old Testament the priests were of the tribe of Levi. They were the only ones who could offer sacrifice of animals on behalf of the people. This is why we call Jesus both priest and victim. He offers himself as the perfect sacrifice, as depicted in the first reading. Jesus freely gave His “life as an offering for sin.” He justified many (us) through His suffering bearing our guilt even though he was innocent, thereby making Him the perfect sacrifice. St. John tells us that “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:16) Jesus shows His love for us by His sacrifice. There is no sacrifice without love and there is no love without sacrifice.

Jesus, by humbly taking on our humanity, totally understood our weaknesses. He, too, was tested, like we are daily, but never succumbed to the temptations of the devil, thus He was totally without sin. Think of Jesus’s humility and humanity the next time you observe the offertory part of the mass (the preparation of the gifts). Reflect on the words that the priest or deacon says (usually inaudibly) when pouring the water into the wine, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

In the gospel we hear again about how the apostles still haven’t gotten the total message about the kingdom being a spiritual one and not an earthly one. Even at Jesus’s Ascension we see their lack of understanding when they ask if Jesus was going to restore the kingdom (thinking of the Davidic kingdom) (Acts 1:6). But Jesus, having just told them to wait in Jerusalem, tells them they will understand more soon. “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

This is the second time that some of the apostles were concerned about the future and their relative positions (who was greatest among them). On the way to Capernaum, they were arguing over who was to be the greatest in the kingdom. (Mark 9:32, Luke 9:46). They were thinking of the kingdom in terms of an earthly kingdom with thrones and scepters and riches. Here the sons of thunder (the brothers John and James) are asking to sit at Jesus’s side in the kingdom. Jesus sets them straight – He’s on the way to the Cross while they are thinking of earthly glory. Bishop Sheen explains it this way in his book, Life of Christ, “The bestowal of honors in His Kingdom was not a matter of favoritism, but incorporation to the Cross.”

Jesus challenges them, knowing that they do not fully understand that He is on the way to the Cross, despite having told them in the passages just prior to this selection that they are on the way to Jerusalem where Jesus will be handed over and put to death. (Mark 10:32-34) "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (Mark 10:38)

Scott Hahn reminds us in his reflections on the readings that “The cup is an Old Testament image for God’s judgment.” Think also of “the cup of wrath” through which God passed judgment on the nations in Jeremiah’s time (Jer. 25:15). John and James declare that they are capable of drinking that cup and Jesus reassures them that they will – James will be martyred and John, after being boiled in oil, was exiled. According to the encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica.com), “Tertullian, the 2nd-century North African theologian, reports that John was plunged into boiling oil from which he miraculously escaped unscathed.” After telling them that what they were asking was not in His authority to give, Jesus then gives all of the apostles another lesson in humility and how it was essential for their ministry to each other and to the world: “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant: whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” For this is what Jesus Himself was doing, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

As in many other places in the gospels (e.g., His example of prayer), Jesus sets Himself as not only the teacher, but the example to be followed. We worry and shy away from suffering and sacrifice, but here, too, Jesus, the Suffering Servant, has set the example for us. “But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived.” (1 John 5-6)

“Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you.” Jas 4:10