On Privilege in the Kingdom

"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." Bartimaeus the blind man begging by the road, Mark 10:46

Last Sunday, we had James and John, quite full of themselves, making demands of Jesus to sit at his right and his left in his Glory. Today we have a blind man begging by the side of the road making a plea for pity. Like most of us 2000 years later, the rest of the crowd would just like him to shut up and stop intruding on their curiosity. But he keeps crying out until Jesus stops and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”

What a contrast! Jesus invites Bartimaeus to make a request versus James and John making a demand! James and John made their demands from what they perceived as their position of privilege. Jesus tells them that they are not privileged at all; if they want to enter his Glory, they need to be the servant of all. Bartimaeus makes his persistent plea from a place of powerlessness. The only power he has is his voice, his incessant voice, and Jesus responds.

So let us make our requests persistently to Jesus from our humility to address our basic needs.

Many have been praying for a very long time for a more bottom-up inclusive Church. Pope Francis has been moved to try to answer those prayers. Archbishop Etienne started Pope Francis’ new synodal process with a mass last Sunday at St. James. He noted that the official name is For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission. We are asked to participate in prayer to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to us as the Body of Christ. How are we to be Church today? Listening sessions will be held throughout the Archdiocese over the next two years. Please participate! For more on Pope Francis’ attempt to reform the Church’s power structure and nudge it towards being a servant church, here is an article from the Jesuit magazine America.

If you would like to participate in the Church’s mission here at St. Therese, please look at the list of ministries and talents that are on the home page of st-therese.cc under Quick Links. If you have questions, please ask Diane at paa@st-therese.cc or Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. Please let Diane know how you would like to work for the Kingdom here at St. T.

1. Donations to the Tiny House Project and to St. Vincent de Paul can be made from the home page.

Ministry Opportunities
To volunteer for a Parish ministry. Please let Diane (paa@st-therese.cc) know how you would like to support your parish with your time and talents.

Do you have expertise with online marketing? The Stewardship Commission is looking to put together a digital outreach team and could need your help! Please contact John Russell at jvrussell85@gmail.com if you can serve.

To help run our livestream equipment, contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. The livestream is not a nice to -do. It’s a must-do and Nicole needs your help!

Parish Collections
Collection July 1, 2021 – October 20, 2021.…....$103,479
The budget….….                                                     $109,354
Last year at this time….….                                      $102,598