I will not reject anyone who comes to me

 This coming Sunday's reading is John 6:37-40.  In the reading, Jesus says, "I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me".

So, then, if Jesus does not reject anyone who comes to Him, on what basis could we reject anyone who seeks Jesus?  There is no basis.There is no category, no type of person, whom we have the power or authority to prevent from approaching Jesus.  The Church itself tries to be the arbiter of who can come to Jesus, for instance in limitations on divorced persons receiving Communion, but the Gospel provides no basis for this.

The only thing that I can say in this regard is that if anyone thinks they are the arbiter of who should be allowed to go to Jesus, they had better be right.  Jesus seemed always to want to be the last word on who could come to him.

 

Sunday 27 October

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 10:46-52

TRANSPARENCY vs. DECEPTION

 

O, Lord, You are the God of clarity and restoration, grateful I remain to You for being my Messiah.

Lord, how easy it is for me to selectively define the truth and join in a masquerade of deception.

Praise to the Overture of Truth!

O’ Lord, for those who are blind (like Bartimaeus) and who live in literal darkness – their pain is unlike any I know.

Lord, it is said that man only sees and hears what he wants and I have chosen this wrong path all too often. 

Glory to the Divine Vision!

O’ Lord, You are gentle and magnificent God of transparency who renews, heals, and restores sight and hope.

Lord, how easy it is to convince myself that I alone possess clarity, yet this becomes just another masquerade of deception.

Praise to the Spirit of Fidelity!

O’ Lord, thank you for giving me the blessing of vision that sadly I take for granted and exploit to suit only me.

Lord, I too call out with Bartimaeus  (the blind outcast) and plea to be rescued from the darkness.

Glory to the Holy of Holies!

O’ Lord, I seek only You in this place of confusion and doubt, for You are the God of transparency and the eradicator of all deception.

Lord, the harvest is ripe now and the workers stand ready to gather the crops that You are prepared to wash clean.

Praise to the Divine Harvester!

(perhaps we can pray together, asking that God to restore our sight with accuracy and to remove the scales from our eyes that have impeded our vision?)

                                                                                                            The Pilgrim