Blind Bartimaeus [October 29, 2012]

The Sunday Gospel [October 29, 2012]

Mark 10:46-52

46They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 47On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 48And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” 49Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” 50He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51Jesus 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.” 52Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Reflection

“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” ~ v. 47

In the Gospel today, Mark tells us something very important about faith.

First of all, faith does not depend on a great amount of knowledge. The blind man Bartimaeus, probably did not know Jesus very well. He only heard that he was the Son of David and that he cured some people somewhere. But this knowledge gave him great hope. He felt that Jesus could cure him too. And so when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

Surely, Mark also wants to tell us that our faith should be bold and courageous, like the faith of Bartimaeus. When we pray, we should approach God with the same kind of confidence and trust.

There is another important point: the story also tells us that we must persevere when we pray and never give up. This is what Bartimaeus did. He continued to call out to Jesus, and so Jesus called him to himself and cured him.

Finally, we learn that when we pray, we must ask God for specific things. Again this is what Bartimaeus did. When Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” he answered, “Rabboni, I want to see.” Hearing this, Jesus gave him just what he asked for, his sight.

There is still one more important point. When Bartimaues cried out to Jesus, the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. Isn’t this ironical! Those who had eyes did not see. They did not realize that Jesus really wanted to heal people like this. And the one who was not able to see was the one who was much more aware of who Jesus was, and so understood his power to heal.

It goes without saying, then, that Mark is also trying to tell us about the importance of awareness and the need to know who we are.

Here we might ponder a few questions for a while. How aware are we of our own self? How aware are we of the way we react to people? How aware are we of the presence of God in our heart and in the hearts of people around us?

Let us pray for wisdom and awareness. May we be like Bartimaeus, who knew who he was, a pitiful man before Jesus, the Son of David. And may we also know the powerful saving love of Jesus, who heals us of all our ills.

Reflection Credits: John Seland, SVD; New Reflections on the Sunday Gospels

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).