(Homily 30th Sunday in Ordinary
Time-Yr. B)
When
I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When
troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then,
I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me
You
raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You
raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I
am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up…To more than I can be
The soul touching lyrics above of Josh
Groban captures exceedingly well those existential conditions that bring us
face to face with human fragility at one end and the liberating power of God’s
grace at the other. In our journey of life, many a times we are faced with
existential ups and downs, sometimes we are knocked down and battered by the trials
and ordeals of life. However, in those moments of human fragility, we need to
be picked up, to be raised up. As such, those moments when our createdness
weighs down on us, we need to have a “pick-me-up” experience, and we need Jesus
to pick us up. He comes to the aid of our weakness and failures. He did not
come only to liberate us of all diminishment, frustration, ailments and sins. He did not come only to show us who we are
and who He wants us to be. He came to ask, to invite and to implore us to
become liberators of others. This indeed was the motivational force behind
Bartimaeus’ prompt decision to follow Him.
The first reading (Jer. 31:7-9) from the prophecy of Jeremiah is part of the series
of four poems that celebrate the return of the Israelites from Babylonian
exile. Upon closer look, one discovers that these poems are connected with the
prophecy of Deutero-Isaiah. At first Yahweh invites the people to jubilate for
He has saved them, He saved them from bondage. This passage reveals Jeremiah’s
hope for the restoration of his people, as indicated in the prophecy of the new
covenant, which we find in the later chapter. Similarly, like the hymn of
return in the prophecy of Isaiah 35,
our present hymn emphasizes the presence of the weak among the people that returned,
amongst them were the blind, the lame and nursing and pregnant mothers. Be that
as it may, we may well presume that it is the mention of the blind in this
passage that connects it to the passage of the Gospel about blind Bartimaeus.
Indeed, the journey of some of the blind people of Israel to freedom is a preparatio for the healing and
restoration of Bartimaeus.
The
Gospel (Mk. 10:46-52) presents the
last miracle that Jesus performed before his Passion according to the account
of Mark, but also of Mathew and Luke. St. Mark in his account gives the name of
this blind man as Bartimaeus, while Mathew and Luke did not mention the name in
their own accounts. Jesus performed this miracle along the road that goes from
Jericho to Jerusalem, where his supreme sacrifice awaits him. Is all about the
story of Bartimaeus, whose identity is characterized by three qualities: blind,
beggar and alone. But on this
existential dangerous road leading from Jericho to Jerusalem, Bartimaeus had an
encounter that changed his whole life. It was his day of total turn-around.
His grace was the coincidence of finding himself one day, on the same road with
Jesus. And to say the least, this
unexpected encounter on that beautiful day changed everything about him. Besides,
in Bartimaeus we see three great qualities that led him far: ● First, his
belief in God, and trust in Jesus the Messiah, as he was shouting and
imploring: “Jesus Son of David” and Jesus recognized his great faith: “your
faith has saved you”. ●Second, his conviction in imploring for healing with a
loud voice: “have mercy on me” with much insistence, without allowing the crowd
or any factor to shout him down, rather he shouted all the more louder ●Third,
his decision to follow Jesus after his human
(his dignity as man and child of God was restored), social (he entered once again into rapport with others), psychological (he regained his
self-concept and esteem) and spiritual
(regained his rapport with God) healing, indeed, the healing not only restored
his sight, but it equally opened up a new horizon (from a blind beggar to a
disciple of Jesus).
Let
us take time to follow the circumstances surrounding this miracle in order to
savour its spiritual depth. The story began with the departure of Jesus from
Jericho, he was not alone, but with his disciples and a large crowd, then there
was also Bartimaeus sitting along the road. He only heard that it was Jesus
passing, he began to shout. This presupposes that this is not his first time of
hearing about Jesus. He must have heard about Him prior to this context, and
for him it was a rear occasion he cannot afford to miss. Upon realizing Jesus’ presence it was as if every gesture, every action
he took was excessive. He was not just talking but he was shouting, he
shouted even louder when the crowd reacted against him. Interestingly, he
started by imploring for God’s mercy: “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me”.
He knew that he needed something more than restoration of sight, he needed also
spiritual healing. This was glaring in his supplication literally in Greek “Kyrie eleison”, this for the Greek
people is an invitation for spiritual healing. Likewise, at the beginning of
the Eucharistic sacrifice it is used to implore God’s healing and purification.
Then
followed the reaction of the “many” in the crowd who tried to shout him down.
Of course, they could not succeed because Bartimaeus was intent and insistent
on making something out of this encounter. Surprisingly,
in the midst of the large crowd Jesus distinguished the voice of Bartimaeus.
Jesus stopped and said: “call him”.
Now some members of the crowd called him, they developed sympathy for him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you”.
Thus, Jesus teaches the crowd and us today that the sufferings of others should
not only stir up just sympathy in us, but empathy. Once again his gestures and actions were excessive, he did not just
remove his cloak, but he threw it off, he did not just stand up, but he sprang
up and went to Jesus. Jesus’ presence and voice healed him. The healing of Bartimaeus started when he
left everything that was sustaining him, and without seeing he started moving
towards that voice, that was vibrating on air, because he was guided and
oriented by the words of Christ. He received an internal liberation and
enlightenment that made him to stand firm and began to walk towards Jesus, even though he was not seeing him, he was
following the eco of His voice.
Here comes the shocking question of Jesus:
“what do you want me to do for you?” (v.51).
This question must have sounded strange to those around, because it was obvious
that the blind man wants Jesus to restore his sight. The interaction between Jesus and Bartimaeus may apparently give the
impression that Jesus is unaware or unconcerned of the situation of the blind
man. For the question “what do you want me to do for you?” is suggestive of
that, it is obvious that a blind man would be asking for sight (though it is
not a given, he could also limit himself to ask of a few coins). But the blind
man patiently replied, “Master, let me see again”, and indeed he was healed
both physically and spiritually: “Go your faith has saved you. And at once his
sight returned” (v.52). Jesus knows
everything concerning people, everything concerning us, as he knew about
Nathaniel under the fig tree (Jn. 1:48)
and about the Samaritan woman who had five husbands before her present partner (Jn. 4:18). Likewise, Jesus knows about
the condition of the blind man, he knows our conditions too. Whatever we are
passing through today is not beyond his knowledge. However, Jesus allowed him
to speak out, to voice out his problems in order to prepare his heart for the
imminent healing. So, child of God you
might have stood alone along the road of life like Bartimaeus, do not give up,
insist and persist. The voice of Jesus will re-echo to you: “What do you want
me to do for you?”
The
interpretative key to this miracle could be found in the Gospel of St. John in Jesus’
affirmation: “I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be
walking in the dark, but have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). In fact, in his programmatic mission speech, Jesus
declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the
good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the
oppressed go free” (Lk. 4:18). Jesus
has the miraculous power to restore sight to the blind, for he is the light of
the world. He came to be the light of our souls and to indicate to us the way
to follow. Therefore, humanity needs
Him, for without Him man gropes in the darkness of sin and meaninglessness of
life. Jesus came to enlighten us and liberate us from our spiritual
blindness, from the darkness of sin. Little wonder, the first request of the
blind man in today’s gospel: “Jesus Son
of David, have mercy on me”. Even though, we may not suffer from physical
blindness like Bartimaeus, but when we are living in the darkness of sin, we
need His light, and just like Bartimaeus we should stand at the road of life
and implore his mercy. Like Bartimaeus on that dangerous road going from
Jericho to Jerusalem, which symbolizes for us the road from earth to heaven, we
need to shout, Lord that I may see!
On the other hand, as Christians who have encountered Jesus, and have
been enlightened by Him, we have the duty to enlighten many today who are in
darkness, those in search of meaning in life, and those who lack a point of
reference in life. We are called to be light to them; in fact as Jesus reminded
us “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be
hidden” (Mt. 5:14), elsewhere he
said “In the same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing
your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven” (Mt.5:16).
Above
all, in this gospel narrative we see majorly three figures (Bartimaeus, Jesus and
the crowd). Sometimes we may find ourselves in the shoes of Bartimaeus, in a
situation of existential and spiritual need, and upon our effort to get rid of
them, those around us (friends, neighbours and relatives) may rebuke us, but
insist and persist like our blind friend today, until Jesus hears,
distinguishes your voice and stops. And when
he stops there begins the encounter that changes life and produces effect. Some
members of the crowd were a stumbling block, obstacles to his healing and
restoration, they were rebuking him, because he was disturbing their peace. They were Bartimaeus enemies of progress,
but he did not give them chance, and that is why his healing came through. Sometimes
also we shout at and rebuke the needy and those in difficulties. Jesus teaches us what it means to have a
heart that sees and an ear that distinguishes the voice of one who is suffering
and in need of help. He does not stop at the level of sympathy (of saying
courage, take heart), rather he empathized
with him and felt in his shoes. He heals both his spiritual and physical
blindness.
In all, Bartimaeus teaches us in today’s gospel that prayer tailors our faith.
There is no true and authentic faith without a persistent and trusting prayer. At the beginning of the episode we were
told that Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus, but at the end he came to know
Jesus not only by hear say, but he saw Him with his eyes, and His healing and
comforting presence equally propelled him to follow Him. Upon deeper
reflection, the message of this passage revolves around the fact that a true
and authentic disciple is cured of his Christological
blindness, that is the blindness of seeing in Jesus only the miracle worker and
not the suffering servant, and Bartimaeus demonstrated this by following
Jesus in the way of the Cross. Therefore, in connection with the discipleship
of Jesus, Bartimaeus teaches us that at the face of the internal and external
difficulties involved in following Jesus, a disciple cannot but recourse to
insistent prayer, prayer that is a sign and manifestation of one’s faith. Therefore, today more than ever, we need to
rediscover the value of prayer. However, the presence and companionship of
Our High Priest gives us courage to continue to journey on the lonely road of
life.
Thus, the second reading (Heb. 5:1-6) from the letter to Hebrews
continues in its exposition of the theme of the High Priest of Christ. The
passage sets out to give us an assurance of faith as regards the provenience
and the purpose of the election of this High Priest: ●The high priest was dully
appointed by God. ●He was chosen among men to act as their representative
before God in offering sacrifices for sins. ●He sympathizes with sinners. Our
High Priest consoles us as Bartimaeus was consoled with the empathizing
presence of Son of David, who understands our weaknesses and human fragility. As we celebrate the World Mission Sunday today, we are all called to appropriate the theme of this year's Mission Sunday: "We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). Bartimaeus saw something after his miracle and decided to follow Jesus. Oremus: Lord Jesus our Eternal High
Priest as you continue to move around doing good, do not pass us by, recognize
our voices of supplication in the midst of the noisy world as you did to
Bartimaeus. May your healing presence dispel the darkness of our sins and
inadequacies. Amen!!
(Fr. Vitus
M.C. Unegbu, SC)
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