Oct
21
The Sanctity of Life—Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)
Isaiah 53:10–11; Hebrews 4:14–16; Mark 10:35–45
Today we celebrate Respect Life Sunday, a day that the Church sets aside to remember the sanctity and dignity of all human life from conception to grave. I think it’s also appropriate to reflect on the ways in which some lives are treated with a lack of dignity and how we can remedy such injustices.
The first reading is from one of the many passages on the Suffering Servant, the one who will bear the sins of Israel, the sinless one who will be crushed on behalf of the sinful. His suffering justifies us all. Now it’s interesting to note that some early Jewish rabbinic sources clearly associate the suffering servant of Isaiah with the Messiah, while later Talmudic commentary associates the suffering servant with the people of Israel.
Today we celebrate Respect Life Sunday, a day that the Church sets aside to remember the sanctity and dignity of all human life from conception to grave. I think it’s also appropriate to reflect on the ways in which some lives are treated with a lack of dignity and how we can remedy such injustices.
The first reading is from one of the many passages on the Suffering Servant, the one who will bear the sins of Israel, the sinless one who will be crushed on behalf of the sinful. His suffering justifies us all. Now it’s interesting to note that some early Jewish rabbinic sources clearly associate the suffering servant of Isaiah with the Messiah, while later Talmudic commentary associates the suffering servant with the people of Israel.
