In his reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Deacon Jim Knipper emphasizes the importance of seeing life through the lens of Jesus' teachings, urging individuals to repent and embrace a lifestyle of love and compassion. The sermon highlights stories from the Gospel of Mark that illustrate Jesus' call to serve, show mercy, and transform one's vision to recognize the inherent dignity in every person. Knipper encourages the community to let go of prejudices and embrace a mystical perspective to truly see others as God sees them, thus embodying the enduring message of Christ's love.

1. Deacon Jim Knipper 1
November 14, 2021 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B Princeton, N.J.
Good morning as we gather on this 33rd and final Sunday in Ordinary Time, for next week we will celebrate
the Solemnity of Christ the King and then the following week we will begin a new Liturgical Year with the first
Sunday of Advent. So, as we bring to a close this year long journey through Mark’s Gospel, I invite us to
pause a bit to see how these numbered Sundays have given us the necessary waypoints for our spiritual
journey.
It is said, if you want to grab the core theme of each Gospel look at the first words spoken by Christ. In the
case of Mark’s Gospel, his first words came after he was baptized by John, called beloved by his Father and
spent forty days in the desert, when he said: “The kingdom of God is at hand…repent and believe in the Good
News!” So, what does that look like for you and for me – to repent (or better said - to turn your life around)
and to believe and live the Good News that Christ taught?
To understand that I think we have to go back to when we began our Ordinary time in January with a Gospel
that set the tone for the entire season. It is the story where two disciples of John the Baptist leave him and
begin to follow Jesus. And after a while, Jesus turns and asks them, “What are you looking for?” They reply
“where do you live?”…to which Jesus invites them to “Come and See”. But this was more than a simple
invitation to the new disciples to see where Jesus resides – rather…this was an invitation to begin to “Come
and See” a whole new way to live – but one that requires transforming the way we see, the way we show
compassion and mercy, and the way we love. So, our year began with an invitation to follow Jesus so that
we, too, may learn to see.
And through these weeks of Ordinary Time the Gospels gave us stories of Jesus healing the sick, dining with
the sinners, reaching out to the lonely, feeding the poor, and comforting the prostitutes. He focused on those
living on the margins and those called unworthy. Dorothy Day reminded us that, “what the Gospel forever
takes away from Christians is the right to judge between the worthy and the unworthy poor.” Christ also
showed us the need to get away to pray, to have mercy on others, to find time to rest, to exclude no one and
implored us to be like a child in order to be welcomed into the Kingdom of God.
For through his words and his actions, Jesus showed us how we are to open our eyes so that we can see and
live differently as each week brought us an opportunity to gain new sight through the Gospels. But it’s so easy
for us to be like the disciples and be blinded by our own agenda – and be unwilling to change! For as we
neared the end of Mark’s Gospel, and heard just a few weeks ago, the disciples were arguing who would be
the greatest among them. They were complaining that someone else was healing others using Christ’s
name. They were rebuking people for bringing children to Christ so that he could touch them…and all the
while, James and John were asking Jesus if they could be the chosen ones to sit at his right and left in the
Kingdom of Glory. Through the Gospels, most of the time the disciples would get it right for a moment and
then lose it…no different than we. But notice that Jesus always responded with unconditional love for his
followers as he continued to show servant leadership. …and as we heard today, reminding us that while our
lives will pass away, his words never will.
Indeed, his words have never passed away – for year after year, century after century they have they have
been translated and retranslated…they have been proclaimed and preached on…they have been embraced
and at the same time they have been misused, ignored and used for personal agendas.

2. Deacon Jim Knipper 2
But the question for you and me today is whether we have allowed the words to help us see any better?
Have they led us, this past year, to be a bit more open to others around us? Or…are we still going through
our daily lives with vision tinted with red versus blue?…or white versus black versus rainbow?... or Christian
versus Muslim, or citizen versus immigrant and the list goes on as our eyesight becomes myopic and blurred
by our ego. So how do we begin to change?
The best answer may be hiding in the Gospel account that we recently heard of Jesus healing the blind
beggar. Remember the story? Bartimaeus is sitting by the side of the road and hears Jesus coming near him
and so calls out, “Son of David have pity on me.” When he is invited to come to Jesus, he “threwaside his
cloak” – with his cloak literally and physically being all that he had. Thus, he stood before the Christ, stripped
of everything and only asked for one thing – to be able to see. You see, my brothers and sisters, our sight can
only be corrected and improved when we are willing to let go of all that we hold onto…putting us in a very
naked, vulnerable and uncomfortable place…and then mustering the courage to ask to see…for that is what
total surrender looks like.
You have heard me quote Fr. Greg Boyle over the years, and just last week he released his latest book
called, The Whole Language – The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. Greg is a Jesuit and founder of
Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang-intervention and rehabilitation program. His key to success is
teaching those who come in his doors how to see differently – or using his words – how to have a mystical
view so that we best see how God sees.
He defines a mystic as “one who sees the whole person and speaks the whole language. For when we are
whole and chose to live in our hearts – then we begin to see others in the same way – facilitating them to see
their own heart and empowering them to go forward and see other hearts. Then we begin to allow mercy to
soften us to always find room in our hearts – where nothing is excluded except excluding.”
Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner said, “The Christian of the future will either be a mystic – or he will cease to be
anything at all.” For we are asked to see as God sees so that we can remind each other that we are made for
loving. Thus, the true measure of our love…is to love without measure.
Fr. Greg goes on to say, “[We need to] close both eyes and see with the other one. Then we [will] no longer
[be] saddled by the burden of our persistent judgements…our ceaseless withholding…and our constant
exclusion. [Rather we will find] our sphere has widened, and we will find ourselves quite unexpectedly in a
new expansive location…in a place of endless acceptance and infinite love.”
“All generations will pass away but my words never will” ...Christ’s message has not changed for some 2,000
years and like the disciples - we face the same daily struggle to see as Christ sees. So, as we move forward
– let us look backward at the words of Christ and his invitation to Come and See...and in doing so….
dare to rededicate ourselves to Christ and our Christian journey;
dare to answer the call and have the courage to see as a mystic sees;
dare to become unafraid to see who we are and who we can be;
And thus, be willing to repent and turn our lives around and to open our eyes to recognize that we are all
sons and daughters of the God who dwells within us and who always showers us with an infinite degree of
unearned love – no matter what. And that, my sisters and brothers, is indeed, the Good News of our Lord
Jesus Christ.