October 25, 2015

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Hebrews 5: 1-6; Mark 10: 46-52

It is an interesting journey that Jesus is on. He is traveling to Jerusalem. In the synoptic gospels, Matthew,Mark and Luke, Jesus only goes to Jerusalem once…it is suffer and die and then rise.

Mark is placing different events along the way in this final journey that tell his listeners a message on how to remain faithful. How can they and how can each one of us not be fooled or become discouraged or give in to the trials of life?

Jesus today encounters Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. Evidently, Bartimaeus was known in the Markan community because Mark recounted that he was the son of Timaeus. He comes to be healed, this is the final healing miracle in Mark’s gospel. Is there more to the healing that can help us in our spiritual journey? Blindness is a symbol not only of a physical condition but also is the symbol of ignorance, unseeing and being visionless. How often I can remain comfortable in my own little world and am afraid to change my attitude or conceptions about people. How often do I stay in my own little world of faith and beliefs and not see where Jesus’ demands of love are leading me? How often do I want to stay in my own little world with all of its prejudice and misconceptions about people that I have never met, yet I give all sorts of conclusions of how they should be living and how society should treat them and others like them? How often do I have my own vision of the Church and feel that my way is the best way to interpret when the Spirit of God is leading Christians today?

An important questions for me to bring to my reflection times is am I sensitive to the people God has place in my life? Am I caring? Do I show compassion? Do I help or do I share my ideas? Bartimaeus on hearing that it was Jesus walking through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem shouted out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” Others wanted him to be quiet…why? What is wrong with a person wanting to be healed? Since he was blind, he would have also been a beggar to come up with help to support himself and maybe his family. He certainly would have more resembled the ‘street people’ that seems so often to be an embarrassment to us. In his plight, why wouldn’t they, why wouldn’t I want him to be healed? AND he shouted out more loudly, “Son of David, have pity on me.” The disciples came and said, “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” Simple words that can be overlooked. Courage…Pope Francis used this word a number of times to people who were struggling and hurting. Be brave…ask God…nothing is impossible for Him….DO I BELIEVE THIS…Do I live this?

And he came to Jesus who asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you? ‘ What a question? Scripture scholars, in quoting this passage, say that this is one of those universal questions that Jesus is always asking of each person….What do you want me to do for you?’ Am I important enough to ask this of Jesus….YES! Is this a once in a life time question or should is this constantly on Jesus’ lips? This is a daily question…even hourly…do I realize that I am that important to Jesus?

Dr Bonnie Bowman Thurston, a Markan scholar in Preaching Mark reflects: “Bartimaeus is not the first person to be discouraged from approaching Jesus. It is unclear whether the ‘many’ who ‘sternly ordered him to be quiet’ (v. 48) are Jesus’ disciples (v. 46). If so, their attempt may be to prevent the trouble for Jesus that accepting a messianic title would entail, or perhaps they are simply persons embarrassed by the blind beggar’s unruly behavior (or, as we so often are, uncomfortable in the face of a severe handicap). But like the Syrophoenician woman in chapter 7, Bartimaeus is not to be silenced; he sees more than the sighted and cries out ‘even more loudly) (v. 48). Jesus responds to the cry, stops, and summons Bartimaeus. Verse 50, which describes Bartimaeus’s approach, is fascinating. Certainly his leaving behind the cloak (the himation or outer garment that was often the only night covering the poor had—which is why the Torah forbade it to be taken in pledge) and springing up is an image of his eagerness to get to Jesus. But it also symbolizes the renunciation that following Jesus requires. If his occupation is begging, and generous people put their offerings on the cloak, then it represents leaving behind the symbol of his occupation just as James, John, and Levi did (1:18, 20; 2:14). Perhaps most generally, leaving behind the cloak, represents abandoning what hinders approach to Jesus. Ironically the one who has noting finds this easier than the one who has ‘many possessions” (10:17-22).

So many interesting avenues to go and reflect on. Do I feel that I am important to God? Do I feel that I have to be a person of position or importance to ‘get an audience’ with God? I have talked with a number of people who went to see Pope Francis or who followed him in the medias. They all remark on how open and comfortable he was to be with all peoples. No one was too unimportant or important for him…he instilled on each person a value, God’s value and specialness for all His creation. Have been created in love…I am loved and continue to be loved every moment…to God, I am His special creation. This is the same for each person. And God is asking me each day and is asking each person each day, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The common response is to fade into the background and not respond…but Jesus is asking this question…each person is that important to Jesus. In asking the question Jesus wants to respond to each person and show them uniquely how they can follow Him more completely. Do I really want to do this? The Devil certainly doesn’t want me to..but God is constantly leading each person closer to Himself. Why do I shy away from this? Am I so caught up in my world and its allurements and its comforts that I don’t want to follow Jesus?

This miracle is about faith…it asks me where my faith is at…is it strong…am I struggling…where do I need help? There is an old saying, I don’t know where it is from that says, ‘seeing is believing’. Today’s gospel brings this out but it also echoes its opposite, ‘Believing is seeing!’ Msgr Eugene Lauer said in Sunday morning Insights, “Faith is that power within human beings that allows them to see meaning in the incomprehensible situation, to be sure that there is divine direction in the most difficult trial. People of faith can see the divine hand in situations even when they do not fully understand. Faith gives a sight and vision that go far beyond the physical power to see.

If the above is true, then the phrase ‘blind faith’ doesn’t make must sense. If there is one thing in this life that isn’t blind, its faith. It is true that

Faith doesn’t always give us immediate answers, but it always gives us meaning. It never leaves us in a ‘blind alley.’ Without faith, we are often blind to the deeper meaning of what is happening right before our eyes(Perhaps ‘blind faith’ is most often used to describe impulsive tendencies that are not part of a genuine divine faith.”

The Apostle Thomas saw and then was able to believe. There’s a certain value in that process. But there is something far more appealing int he experience of dear old Bartimaeus. He believed and then was able to see.”

God always takes the first step..He loves each of us first…He gifts us…it is He who saves. AND WE RESPOND. Now our response is important but it is not generated from ourselves. God graces us. FAITH is a gift of God. It was the gift of faith that Bartimaeus was given that led him cry out to Jesus. It was this grace that led him to persist in the face of all the opposition. It was this grace the enabled him to come to Jesus when He called. His faith opened him up to the work of the Spirit within him and this is an important message for each of us. Jesus is always leading us closer to Himself and heaven. Is this my goal?

So I reflect on:

• What are my disabilities and limitations?

• What challenges do people with disabilities face that might make them feel exiled from human companionship? What role might I have in healing this exile?

• In what ways is Bartimaeus a model of faith for me?

• In moments when I cannot see the way ahead, I can join myself with Bartimaeus and ask for Christ’s saving help.

• In the second reading from Hebrews I can imagine myself with Jesus as the priest who deals patiently with the ‘ignorant and the erring.’

Sacred Space 2015 shares:

“People who live with disabilities such as blindness often show great courage, resourcefulness, and strength of character. Do I truly appreciate my own God-given ability to see and my other natural senses and abilities? Do I ever express gratitude for these wonderful gifts? And do I ever humbly ask God to help me to live well with my own disabilities and limitations?

Bartimaeus becomes a joyous disciple. What difference does my own faith make in my life?”