Being Blind in the Right Way

 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

24 October 2021 

 

First Reading: JER 31:7-9

Responsorial Psalm: PS 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

Second Reading: HEB 5:1-6

Gospel: MK 10:46-52

 

Reflection

By: Bernard Borja

 

Bartimaeus, the blind man, literally walked by faith and not by his sight. He knows how to call and come before the Lord by acknowledging His authority - son of David, and throwing aside something he owns (his cloak). This is in contrast to the wealthy man who came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. The wealthy man came before Jesus, bringing his "accomplishments" and presented it to the Lord (Mk 10:20 "all of these I have observed from my youth.") He may have most of the qualifications to inherit eternal life, but his selfish desires made it useless when he walked away from Jesus. The two disciples, James and John, were also in contrast to how Bartimaeus asked Jesus. Although James and John acknowledges Jesus' authority when they called Him "teacher", their desire to be "on top" or greater than the others shows that their faith is misaligned. Like the wealthy man, James and John also brought their "status" so they can present it to Jesus and ask whatever it is that they want.

Bartimaeus' first request is not even "to see". It is for Jesus to "have mercy on him." He acknowledged his own weakness and sinfulness, even though he only met Jesus the first time. How many times do we pray and go straight to, "Lord, I want this. Do this for me." And when we are not praying, do we remember that we are still before the presence of God? Or do we only put ourselves in His presence the moment we want to pray? Bartimaeus teaches us of how great our faith can be even without seeing. He may have heard a lot of stories about Jesus before and he's waiting all his life for Jesus to pass by the road where he is begging. He may have already been living his life courageously even before he was told to "take courage", because his faith constantly reminded him to be ready for that day. To recognize that we are always in God's presence is to be ready for His call. To acknowledge that we are "blind" can help us strengthen our faith that God will always listen to our prayers.

There may be times when we look at ourselves and desire to be "superior" to others. Even in the faithful community or the Church, we sometimes look at others' "blindness" and maybe see them as unworthy to come before the Lord. There may be times when we rebuke them and tell them to keep their prayers to themselves, especially when they cry out and call upon the Lord more. We can learn a lot from the fatih and courage (whether it's authentic or misaligned), of those who call upon the Lord profusely. The wealthy man may have faith to believe that he will inherit eternal life through his accomplishments. James and John had the audacity to ask Jesus for greatness even in the presence of other disciples. The contrast in Bartimaeus' desire is that he fully understands who Jesus is and the proper way to respond which is to leave his possession and acknowledge his "blindness". There was no pride or even some coins that he wanted to offer in exchange besides his faith.

Today, we often see people offering a list of accomplishments in exchange for "greatness". They show a sense of false humility to the people for them to get what they want. To make it worse, they want the people to look away from their sinfunlness and just focus on their accomplishments. This "blindness" from the mistakes that a person has done (or continues to do) is never the same with Bartimaeus' blindness.

Bartimaues' faith grew stronger because of his blindness. Some people's blindness makes them grow a sense of false humility that drives them to do "good" works to nullify a sin. An accomplishment can never be used to forget an evil deed. In the same way, our status in life must not be a basis for us to look down on others, and believe that it is our right to be superior. Bartimaeus also teaches us how to pray - recognize God's authority (Our Father in Heaven), trust that God will fulfill our deepest desires (Thy will be done), be faithful that God always listens (give us this day our daily bread), acknowledge our sinful nature (forgive us our trespasses), and follow Jesus closely (deliver us from evil).

Prayer

Lord, in our blindness, may we all learn to strengthen our faith and be ready to come before You, and trust that You will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart. Amen.

 

Life Giving

"Go your way; your faith has saved you."

First Reading: Jer 31:7-9

Thus says the LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng. They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

Second Reading: Heb 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: You are my son: this day I have begotten you; just as he says in another place: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel: Mk 10:46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Reflection

By Marky Vertido

This Sunday’s Gospel reading is parallel to both Matthew and Luke’s version in their Gospel. Matthew described the situation having two blind men and Mark named one as Bartimaeus.

 For me, the month of October marks the anniversary of my commitment to every young people. For the last three years, I have dedicated myself for the young and this will continue. The passage for today is one of my favorites for it was the same story that I had shared always with my fellow young people. The following is a parallel explanation only. It will be quite long but reflective, a way to end my reflection series.

There are three characters in the story – Bartimaeus, the crowd, and Jesus. Describing Bartimaeus, we could say that he is blind, beggar, piteous, dirty, odorous, helpless, and in the dark. Thus, Bartimaeus does not live life to the fullest. He lives in misery and trouble because of his condition. We could visualize all of these but let me throw the question to you, are you also blind, piteous, dirty, odorous, helpless, and in the dark? Are you blind because of sin? Have you ever beg for love and care as well?

It is very annoying to see how the crowd reacted when Bartimaeus called for the Son of David. The crowd rebuked him to keep quiet but the more he calls for Jesus. The crowd is noisy, unruly and selfish. How about you? Are you noisy, unruly and selfish also? How many people have you tried to lead to Jesus? How many have you rebuked?

And we have Jesus. With no doubt, we can say that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Redeemer, and Divine Healer. Now, did you ever become a Jesus to others?

Examining the situation of Bartimaeus, he was sitting in the roadside of Jericho. It is important to take note that Jesus was leaving Jericho going to Jerusalem to fulfill the Scriptures. Sitting beside the road defies its usage. The road is used for walking, thus, there is life in it and sitting beside shows that someone is stuck. Are you stuck also to your present situation?

In the static situation of Bartimaeus, he wanted to reach for Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life – since he was outside the circle of Life, the circle of Jesus, but the crowd stopped him. But then Jesus heard Bartimaeus and He knows that He needs to pull Bartimaeus from misery and bring him to the fullness of Life. He wanted to heal Bartimaeus.

Recounting the act of Jesus, we can observe several actions. First, Jesus LISTENED to Bartimaeus after he called Jesus. Listening is a very important action. For Jesus, He does not really need to listen but He did. Thus, this gives Bartimaeus the sense of worth that he is worthy to be listened to. Are you worthy to listen to?

Second, Jesus STOPPED for Bartimaeus. Now, just like listening, stopping for someone you do not know is also an act of Jesus to allow the total healing of this blind man. This gives the sense of importance to Bartimaeus. Can you stop for other people?

Then, Jesus CALLED for Bartimaeus. He called the blind man to come near and probably He called the blind man’s name. God himself calls everyone by their names because God wants to be intimate with us. It is good to suggest to parents to name their child after a saint who would serve as a guide for their child. Do you also hear the call of God in your life?

After calling Bartimaeus, Jesus ASKED what it is that he wants. In the Gospel itself, there are many instances when Jesus asked what one wants from Him. By doing this, Jesus is recognizing and respecting our free will. He already knows what we need but He wants us to decide whether we really need it or not. Are you using your free will responsibly?

In Matthew’s version, Jesus’ actions were to FEEL, to TOUCH. He was moved by the faith of the blind man. And lastly, He gave healing to the blind man when He touched him. We cannot just touch any person but Jesus himself touched Bartimaeus to sympathize and heal him. Can you feel the sufferings of others? Have you ever tried to touch the life of someone?

Now, the result of Jesus’ action is restoration not only of the sight of Bartimaeus, but also his very own life, becoming a member of the circle of Life by following Jesus. Thus, what Jesus did is a life giving act. I throw the question to you, have you ever tried to LISTEN to others, to STOP when someone is in need, to CALL for others back to Jesus, to ASK them what they need, to FEEL their pains or situations, and TOUCH them and be with them?

God gave us hands to be life giving to others also, that is, to accomplish what Jesus had accomplished for Bartimaeus. We use our hands to work for our needs and for the Kingdom. And as we use our hands to embrace others, we also show the love of God to others.

Commitment: Like Jesus, be life giving to others in either big or small actions that we do.

 Prayer:

Lord, giver of life, it is our desire to follow You. Heal the blindness that sin has brought us. Give us the courage to approach You in the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that these sins we have may vanish away. And after You cleanse our hearts with Your merciful love, help us to become life giving to others and to accompany them to You, especially the young people. We ask this in Jesus name with the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Pedro Calungsod. Amen!