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In other words

25 Oct 2015 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.” They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.” In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road (from Mark 10). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

Healing blind bartimaeus

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Homily themes

25 Oct 2015 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Who is the model disciple? If it’s the Gospel of Mark, chances are it’s not “the disciples.” They’re too busy deciding who can and cannot talk with Jesus. They may be walking with him out of Jericho, but they’re not necessarily following. No, that role goes to Bartimaeus, who though “blind” is the only one who sees the Messiah in Jesus. He has faith: He’s persistent; he won’t be shushed. In the whole Gospel of Mark only he calls Christ Master. And he’s willing to get up and follow not his “own way” but the way of Jesus—even though that road goes to Jerusalem.

blind bartimaeus disciples

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Exploring the word

28 Oct 2012 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

What’s the price of mental and spiritual blindness? It doesn’t help to argue that we’re not blind. Each of us makes decisions to close our eyes to a lot we prefer not to see or feel or think about. This kind of selective attention makes it easier and simpler to navigate through our days. It also puts us at risk as we participate in certain grand lies about the nature of our world and ourselves. It used to be that if you didn’t consciously break any commandments or commit immoral acts, you could reasonably call yourself a moral person. Then came church teaching that harbors an awareness of social sin: Because the very system that holds and sustains is corrupt, it’s fairly impossible for any of us who benefit from it not to be accountable for its many exploitative injustices. Just today, violence around the world has been visited on strangers in my name and with my financial backing. Decisions have been made not to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, welcome the stranger—by people who represent us and are on oour payroll. Rulings have been made to exploit the soil, threaten the water table, pollute the air, and tamper with the food supply. And it’s all on our dime, and it is we who stand to reap the (temporary) rewards of this environmental ravaging. If we say it’s not so, not our fault, then we’re not only blind but choose to bump around and pretend we’re not. That makes us pathetic because the literally, physically blind know quite well they can’t see—which means they see very well, when it comes to the truth. What are the consequences of being blind to the truth? That nothing changes, until it gets worse. Sinful systems remain in place and are unchallenged. We, too, become false, self-righteous, self-deluded. In biblical terms that is known as “hardness of heart. ”How can we be healed of our blindness? We do as Bartimaeus did. We have to run after Jesus, call his name, acknowledge our blindness, and ask to see. Be forewarned: Clear sight does not always feel like a gift. Opening our eyes to the truth about our world and ourselves makes negotiating our place in this society a whole lot messier. It means embracing small pragmatic practices, like the “reuse, reduce, recycle” mantra. It means making careful choices with investments and purchases. It means being politically informed and involved. It also means engaging in big restorative justice efforts: redistributing resources, fighting local bigotries, inclusifying communities, doing the right thing even when it costs us. Today is Priesthood Sunday. We pray for our religious leaders and also that more people with vision will feel their hearts roused to serve our church in this necessary ministry. Related Scripture links The preserved names: Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 10:46-52; 15:21; Luke 1:26-38; 6:12-16; 8:1-3; 10:38-42; 19:1-10; 23:50-52; 24:10; John 3:1-15; 11:1-44; 19:39-42 Faith and salvation: Mark 5:23, 28, 34, 36; 6:6; 8:29; 9:14-24; 10:52; 11:22-24; 16:15-18 Catechism links Faith: CCC 185-202; 222-227; 548; 1814-1816; 2616; 2666-2668

Authors Alice Camille

blindness bartimaeus Priesthood Sunday

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The inner word

28 Oct 2012 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Running through the readings this week is a sense of call. We hear of the Israelites’ joy when God called them back from exile. The Letter to the Hebrews makes it clear that only God calls the high priest. In the gospel the blind Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus, and Jesus to him. Where and to what is God calling you? Back to God? To some new vocation? To receive healing?

Exile Letter to the Hebrews bartimaeus

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Homily stories

28 Oct 2012 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The great journalist A. J. Liebling was a boxing fan and once wrote about a boxer who fought under the name of Pete Herman. Liebling had seen one of Herman’s last bouts, when the fighter was nearly blind but not admitting it. Herman fought, Liebling wrote, “by a system of feint and touch.” As long as he was in some kind of physical contact with his opponent, he would get his bearings and could be devastating. When he wasn’t, though, he was basically at the mercy of his adversary. Because of his vision loss, which soon became total and forced him into retirement, Herman developed extraordinary abilities. He couldn’t always see a punch coming, but as long as he was in touch with his opposite number he could anticipate the other fighter’s moves, lead, dodge, and counterpunch, reading the other man’s body “as a touch typist knows where the letters are on a keyboard.” Bartimaeus could have been Pete Herman’s patron saint. Though physically blind, Bartimaeus had the ability to see—namely that Jesus was the Son of David, the Messiah—and his insistence on contact with Christ gave him not only his sight but also the discernment to follow Jesus’ way.

Authors Joel Schorn

blindness Faith bartimaeus

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Homily themes

28 Oct 2012 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Who is the model disciple? If it’s the Gospel of Mark, chances are it’s not “the disciples.” They’re too busy deciding who can and cannot talk with Jesus. They may be walking with him out of Jericho, but they’re not necessarily following. No, that role goes to Bartimaeus, who though “blind” is the only one who sees the Messiah in Jesus. He has faith: He’s persistent; he won’t be shushed. In the whole Gospel of Mark only he calls ChristMaster. And he’s willing to get up and follow not his “own way” but the way of Jesus—even though that road goes to Jerusalem.

Authors Joel Schorn

bartimaeus blind disciples follow

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Exploring the word

28 Oct 2018 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Finding housing near a university is never easy, but enrolling in a degree program from out-of-state made it all the more challenging. So it seemed practical to accept a room in the on-campus graduate dorm rather than hit the ground looking for a place to live. However, when the young man arrived at school that fall, he found out right away that most grad students would prefer to live in the back of a pick-up truck before they’d choose a dormitory address. The folks sharing the dorm with him had extenuating reasons for being there: Either they were from out of the country and barely spoke the language, or they had disabilities that made close, accessible housing a top priority. For the first time in his life as an able-bodied person, the young man lived in a world of wheelchairs, tapping canes, and guide dogs. His new friends had palsy, spinal bifida, and macular degeneration. During that time in the graduate dorm, he got a small taste of what a day in the life of Jesus might have been like: From every direction, people with every conceivable need showed up at his door on a regular basis. Could he come retrieve a fallen object or read a newly posted sign or assist a woman whose attendant failed to make it in to wash her hair? “I learned not to take even the most mundane ability for granted,” the young man reflected in a letter to a friend. “I came to appreciate how much need there is in the world and how the smallest act of kindness can be a blessing.” Son of David, have pity on me A day in the life of Jesus included teaching, preaching, healing, arguing, and a lot of walking. Leaving Jericho one day with a hoard of people trailing him (each hoping for more than he or she already had received), Jesus must have been at the weary end of the afternoon. And yet out on the road he heard a voice crying out, asking for mercy, while other voices shouted him down. “Call him,” Jesus said simply. So they told the man, “Jesus is calling you.” That was enough for the blind son of Timaeus. He threw aside his cloak, possibly the garment he used to collect alms, and so discarded his old way of life. (In Mark, garments often suggest a change of attitude.) Bartimaeus is bold in approaching Jesus, calling him Son of David and Master, both affirmations of faith. Jesus rewards this shining example of courageous faith—so dramatically in contrast with the limp assent of his disciples—with the instant restoration of sight. (The last cure of a blind man in Chapter 8 was a more gradual process.) What happens next may seem less extraordinary, but it’s the most remarkable aspect of the story. Bartimaeus becomes a disciple, choosing to follow Jesus “on the way.” Scholars believe the wording suggests that Bartimaeus hangs in there all the way to the cross. His is the only example in the gospels of a cured person becoming a disciple. Master, I want to see Think of it: Of all the lepers Jesus touched, of all the blind who regained their sight, of the deaf and mute whose hearing and speech were restored, of the epileptics who were calmed and the deranged who became sensible, only one made the deliberate choice to turn and follow Jesus. The rest ran home in astonishment and joy, overwhelmed at the chance to take up their lives again with their loved ones in health and wholeness. We can’t blame them for going back. The decision to go forward, into something entirely new and unknown and untried, is the peculiar choice. Bartimaeus must have been an unusual fellow to make it. Mark tells his story as the climax to a series of healings in which faith has been a key ingredient. The disciples never seem to have enough of it, while those who are healed display faith in abundance. It is only natural, in the end, that one whose sight is restored would see his way into the ranks of the followers. Bartimaeus can no longer envision a future that does not include Jesus. When this fellow said, “I want to see,” he meant it! This kind of sight is available to all of us, and necessary even for those who have never worn glasses to acquire. Our friend in the graduate dorm came to see the human predicament with new eyes from his privileged position in the community of those with disability. He saw that our world is full of need and limitation, and we only have to position ourselves in proximity to the want of another person to experience the call to respond to it, as Jesus did. We may not have a miracle up our sleeve, but kindness and compassion can heal what medical science cannot even touch. We should never doubt that we have been given the capacity to offer healing to others. The Holy Spirit assures us we can, and discipleship demands that we must. Applying the Word Take courage, get up We are called to offer the healing of Christ, and we pray for healing ourselves. These are not mutually exclusive tasks, as the “wounded healer” has been a model for ministry since Jesus on the cross. We cannot neglect our own growth toward wholeness, for we are all bent and blinded by the lives we’ve led and the circumstances of our world. What we’ve done and failed to do have left their mark on us, and compound that by generations and you have a working definition of original sin. Each of us needs healing in body, mind, and spirit: The church has sacraments of forgiveness, anointing, and nourishment to encourage us. We have the community of faith to support us in seeing clearly; we may also need the support of counselors, 12-step programs, or medical professionals to maintain that clear-sightedness. And most of all, we need to make the deliberate choice to follow Jesus into the future, the choice that newly sighted Bartimaeus makes. Once we are finally able to see, we are invited to do. Related scripture links Garments and their significance: Mark 2:21; 5:25-30; 6:56; 9:3; 11:7-8; 13:16; 15:20, 24 Salvation by faith: 5:23, 28, 34, 36 Blind man gradually restored: Mark 8:22-26 Failure of the disciples: Mark 9:18-19, 28-29 Disciples cannot see: Mark 10:35-45 Catechism links Faith: CCC 185-202; 222-227; 548; 1814-1816; 2616; 2666-2668

Authors Alice Camille

bartimaeus sight Healing

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Homily stories

28 Oct 2018 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

One day at work I got a call from my wife. She was dealing with a difficult situation at home, but she caught me at an awkward time when I was up to my ears in deadlines, and I was neither much help nor much support. We both ended the call feeling lost and hurt and confused. Rather than sit and stew I took a break and walked over to St. Peter’s, a church in downtown Chicago that’s open all day long. As I sat in one of the back rows off to the side, I saw dozens, if not hundreds of people come in, kneel down, and say their prayers. A number of them looked like I felt—in need of some kind of help. I remembered the question Jesus put to Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” Like Bartimaeus I prayed, “Master, I want to see.” I wanted to see a different and better way of acting. I wanted to see what I had done wrong and a way to make it right. I wanted to see beyond my own hurt feelings to a place where my wife and I were partners again rather than at odds. I think a lot of us in the church that day were offering the same prayer: “Master, I want to see.” I’m sure that once I made my prayer and went back to work, God found little ways throughout the day to let me see the way. For me, it usually doesn’t come as a flash of light, but the divine light shines nonetheless. And the more I ask, the more I see.

Authors Tom McGrath

bartimaeus sight

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In other words

28 Oct 2018 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.” They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.” In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road (from Mark 10). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

bartimaeus sight

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