Catholic TV Mass Online October 24, 2021: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Presider: Fr. Matthew Widder Parish: Catholic Community of Waukesha TEXT FROM THE HOMILY There's an old classic story called Alice in Wonderland and one of the moments within that story that has a deeper message is Alice is wandering through Wonderland, she encounters this cat and the cat is often a bit of a shyster. But one of the moments when Alice encounters the cat, she's traveling and there's a number of different roads that she could go. A number of different paths that she can follow. And she turns and says out of frustration, “Which way should I go?” And the cat appears and says, “Well, where are you going?” And Alice says, “Well, I don't really know. It doesn't much matter which way I go. I don't know where I’m going.” And the cat in this point has a bit of wisdom. The cat says, “Well if you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which way you go.” And there's a sense of truth in that. If we don't know where we are going, then there is no right or wrong path. But it's different if we do know where we're going. We hear in the gospel today, after Bartimaeus is healed and his vision is restored that he follows Jesus on the way. That there is one way and Jesus is that way and he's on that path of following. The symbolism with Bartimaeus goes a step deeper though because even though he's blind on the surface we know spiritually, he was the only one that really could see because he was calling out to our Lord. He was the only one that was really calling out in the midst of that, that's mentioned in the gospel. And there's this old saying that we see what we want to see. And so maybe an example would be in this season if you watch football, many times when a team throws the ball down the field, and let's say right before the player is going to catch the ball, the pass is broken up. Well, if you're on the defensive team side you say “Great defense!” If you're on the offense you say, “Where's the flag?” Throw the pass interference, right? But it's interesting how we see what we want to see. And so if we see Jesus, if we recognize Jesus, then the way of following Jesus throughout our life becomes all the more clear. Imagine if we had that same passion for our Lord as we had at times cheering for our favorite football team. To follow the Lord on the way. There is a way. And sometimes we say, well maybe it's best not to have a way. If we're not going anywhere in this life, usually we're going backwards. We're going backwards. And so we pray for that grace to see the Lord and as we see the Lord, as we follow the Lord, to see our lives in the world around us in light of the love and the mercy, the teachings of our Lord. Jesus help us to have the vision of Bartimaeus. Entrance: Amazing Grace Text: CM; Verses 1-4, John Newton, 1725-1807; Verse 5, anon., fr. A Collection of Sacred Ballads, 1790. Music: Columbian Harmony, 1829. Psalm 126: The Lord Has Done Great Things © Julie and Tim Smith Preparation: Open My Eyes Text: Based on Mark 8:22-25. Verses 1-3 text, Jesse Manibusan; verse 4 text, Kelly Cullen, OFM. Text and music © 1988, Jesse Manibusan. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Communion: Do This In Memory Text: Based on John 6. Text and music © 2007, Chris Muglia. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Sending Forth: Be Lifted High © 2005, Thankyou Music (PRS)/Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP (Administered at CapitolCMGPublishing.com. All rights reserved. Used with permission.) and Joshua Blakesley. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Mass Setting: Mass of Saint Ann Text from the English translation of The Roman Missal, © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Music © 2011, World Library Publications. Contributors: Ed Bolduc, ICEL Tune: Music © 2011, World Library Publications. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591. www.HeartoftheNation.org