October 28 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: leaving behind the cloak in order to come closer to Christ

 

First Reading Jeremiah 31:7-9
The Lord declares himself to be the Father of Israel.

 

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 126:1-2,2-3,4-5,6
A song of praise to God who does great things

 

Second Reading Hebrews 5:1-6
Christ was made high priest by God.

 

Gospel Reading
Mark 10:46-52

 

In today’s Gospel we see how everyone discouraged Bartimaeus when he wanted to meet Jesus. But he refused to be silenced, and the heart of Christ didn’t let him down. St Mark makes a point of explaining that Bartimaeus “threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” The Fathers of the Church have seen in this cloak a symbol of self- sufficiency, a symbol of our deep-seated tendency to think that we are capable of solving all of our problems on our own. The cloak symbolizes all those things that we wrongly depend on for happiness, that we tend to idolize: good looks, intelligence, athletic ability, money, good education, success, popularity etc Then, when he hears the Lord’s call, he doesn’t hesitate to cast off his cloak and spring forward, teaching us all that our only sufficiency should be Jesus Christ.