Sunday in the 30th Week of Ordinary Time, October 27, 2024

Mark 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.

“Bartimaeus.”  Saints Matthew and Luke also relate this incident, but only Mark names the blind beggar.  This may mean that Bartimaeus was known to St. Mark in the early years of the Church, or even to the Apostle Peter, whose accounts of the Lord’s words and deeds Mark compiled in his Gospel.

“Sat by the roadside begging.”  The blind beggar signifies each of us, blinded by the bright but passing splendors and enticements of the world — careers, wealth, possessions, baser pleasures — and unable to know ourselves or how to live well, or the purpose of life.  We live in squalor and on whatever people give us, good or bad.  “On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth.”  The name of Jesus kindles hope in our hearts, for the name is familiar.  He is passing by, though, and will soon be gone.  That is, we do not know how much time we have to go to him.  “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”  We pray a simple prayer for help.  It goes out from the heart.  This is a prayer the Lord will hear above all the noise of the crowd.  “Many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.”  Those who do not want us to be saved from sin but to remain mired in it with them seek to silence our prayers.  They cannot bear to see someone like themselves become clean and to depart for the way of Jesus.  The sight of a repentant soul tortures them with guilt.  But perseverance in prayer despite them makes us stronger and our prayer more pure.

“Call him.”  We notice here that the Lord does not go to the blind beggar.  He employs those around him to act as his heralds.  They cry out, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”  Those who sought to silence him fall away.  Hearing that Jesus is calling him personally, “he threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.”  That is, he abandoned his former life completely and leaped up.  Life surged within him as he made his way, helped by many hands, to the Lord.  These heralds are those who believe in Christ and witness to him in their words and deeds.  They are the Holy Scriptures, the saints and angels, and sacred art.  They are all people, places, and things that bring us to Jesus, that remind us of him, that give us courage to open our hearts to him.

“What do you want me to do for you?”  Jesus wants the man to share in the work of his own salvation and so he asks him to answer a question to which he already knows the answer.  We should think what we would ask if the Lord were to ask us this question.  What is it that we most need?  The Lord asks an open question.  He does not ask, narrowly, “Do you want me to heal your eyes?”  He asks him to ask for whatever he wants.  “Master, I want to see.”  The blind beggar does not hesitate, does not make a speech about how deserving he is of a favor, does not attempt to flatter the Lord.  He makes a simple direct statement.  “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”  The Lord’s reply both grants the man’s prayer and commends him for his faith.  He commends him for cooperating with the abundant grace God gives to all of us that we should convert and follow his commandments.  Those around the man rejected this grace and tried to silence his prayers.  He persevered and grew in grace so that his prayer was strengthened.  Now he has the fullness of faith.  He is a new man.  He is a saved man: “Immediately he received his sight.”

“And followed him on the way.”  Bartimaeus does not go back for his cloak.  He does not even look back.  Nor do we, after our sins are forgiven through the Sacrament of Penance, return to the occasions of sin where we fell before, and we follow Jesus.  He is the way, the only way.  We use our new sight, the life of grace which enables us to avoid the pits and traps of sin and to go where Jesus leads us.  And we ourselves are now in the company of the Lord’s heralds who may hand others to him.