SUNDAY REFLECTIONS

30TH ORDINARY SUNDAY - 27 OCTOBER 2024

READINGS: • Jer 31:7–9 • Ps 126:1–2, 2–3, 4–5, 6

• Heb 5:1–6 • Mk 10:46–52

REFLECTION 1
Homily starter anecdotes:
# 1: An ancient eye test for spiritual blindness: Fr. De Mello tells a story which can help
us to check our spiritual blindness. A hermit asked his disciples: “When do you say that
the night is ended, and it is morning?” The first disciple said: “I say that it is morning when
I can distinguish an oak tree from a maple tree.” The hermit said: “No.” The second
disciple answered: “I know it is morning when I can distinguish a cow from a sheep at a
distance.” Once again, the hermit disagreed. The third disciple replied, “It is morning
when no star is visible in the cloudless sky.” “That is also a wrong answer,” said the hermit.
Then he explained: “I know it is morning when I can recognize a person as a son or
daughter of God, and, hence, my own brother or sister.”

#2: Blindfolded in the den of the lion: In the seven years that he was held hostage in
Lebanon, Terry A. Anderson, Chief Middle East Correspondent of the Associated Press,
was physically and psychologically abused, beaten, and tortured by his captors. Chained
to a bed or to the wall and stripped to his underwear, Anderson was kept blindfolded so
as not to be able to recognize his whereabouts or subsequently be able to reveal the
identities of his guards. Deprived of physical sight and freedom, Anderson spent those
seven years engaged in a spiritual odyssey marked by an ever-deepening insight.
Blindfolded in darkness, he discovered the inner light of grace that enabled him to look
once again in Faith at God, to see himself in stark truthfulness and humility, and even to
look upon his captors with a sense of understanding. His probing spiritual perception led
Anderson to seek reconciliation with and healing forgiveness from God. Through the
ministry of Father Lawrence Jenco, a fellow hostage, Anderson rediscovered his Faith.
The following is Anderson’s response to that occasion: Where is faith found? Not in a
book or in a church, not often or for everyone. In childish times, it’s easier; a child believes
just what it’s told. But children grow and soon begin to see too much that doesn’t match
the simple tales, and not enough of what’s behind their parents’ words. There is no God,
the cynics say; we made Him up out of our need and fear of death. And happily, they offer
up their test-tube proofs. A mystery, the priests all say, and point to saints that prove their
faith in acts of love and sacrifice. But what of us who are not saints, only common human
sinners? And what of those who in their need and pain cry out to God and go on suffering?
I do not know — I wish I did. Sometimes I feel all the world’s pain. I only say that once in
my own need I felt a light and warm and loving touch that eased my soul and banished
doubt and let me go on to the end. It is not proof — there can be none. Faith’s what you
find when you’re alone and find you’re not (Den of Lions, Memoirs of Seven Years, Crown
Publishers, Inc., New York: 1993). — In today’s Gospel, another man, deprived of physical
sight invites the gathered assembly in this church to share in his spiritual odyssey. We are
often held hostage by our pride, fear, or self-seeking or by the “blindfold” of indifference
to the needs of others. With Bartimaeus, let us pray for both freedom from spiritual
blindness and growth in faith, saying, “Lord, I want to see.” (Sanchez Archives).

# 3: Two famous prayers for spiritual vision: Cardinal Newman prays for clear vision in
his famous poem, “Lead Kindly Light”:
Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

“Amazing Grace,” As the captain of a British slave ship, John Newton regained his faith
during a storm at sea and became an ordained minister who was very active in the
abolitionist movement. He explains how he gained his spiritual eyesight in his famous
hymn, Amazing Grace.
Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see.

Today’s Gospel, which tells of the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus, challenges us to
strengthen our faith in Jesus, the healer, and invites us to gain true spiritual vision.

Introduction:
The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving
and forgiving God for His people. The first reading tells us how a forgiving, compassionate
God healed the spiritual blindness of His Chosen People by subjecting them to captivity
in Babylon, and then liberated them, bringing them back to their homeland. This journey
foreshadows the Jerusalem journey of Jesus in the company of the lame and the blind
and, with the healing of the blind Bartimaeus, fulfills Jeremiah’s joyful prophecy of the
exiled Jews’ return from Babylonian captivity to their homeland. Today’s Responsorial
Psalm (Ps 126) gives us the same encouraging promise: “Those that sow in tears shall
reap rejoicing!” Today’s second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, presents
Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins and as the great High Priest. Identifying Jesus as the
true High Priest of the New Testament, the reading also gives us the assurance that, as
the High Priest, Jesus is sympathetic to us because He has shared our human nature.
Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus showed the mercy and compassion of his Heavenly
Father by healing Bartimaeus, a blind man. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s
concern in the first reading, Jesus was concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus of
Jericho. On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed
his trusting Faith in the healing power of Jesus by shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me!” As Jesus invited him to come near, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak
(suggesting, perhaps, the baptismal divesting). Bartimaeus’ meeting with Jesus gave him
the gift of spiritual as well as physical sight, and he immediately became a disciple of
Jesus.

First reading: Jer 31:7-9, explained:

This reading, taken from the book of Jeremiah, tells us of the small number of people,
“the remnant of Israel,” who had survived the 721 BC Assyrian captivity (with which the
Babylonian captivity would later merge). Jeremiah encourages his exiled fellow Jews with
God’s promise of a homecoming reminiscent of the joy and triumph of the first coming
home of their ancestors from Egyptian slavery to the promised land. Jeremiah’s prophecy
describes the coming return of the Babylonian captives as they will be led on their joyful
journey home to Jerusalem. The passage foretells God’s promise to give His people life in
all its fullness. Through their exile and suffering, the people had learned to humble
themselves and turn to God with sincere repentance. The returnees would include not
only the healthy, but the blind, the lame, and the vulnerable. Originally spiritually blind,
the exiled Jews, through suffering, would receive spiritual sight, and they would express
their gratitude to God by singing His glories on their way back to their city. The promise of
this prophesied journey would be fulfilled in Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem in the company
of the lame and the blind, recorded in today’s Gospel. “By extending a word of healing
and salvation (‘your faith has healed, i.e. saved you,’ Mk 10:52), to the poor, the sick, and
the needy, Jesus realized Jeremiah’s vision. Moreover, what the prophet had promised
regarding the return of the exiles to Judah, would be eclipsed by the ultimate return of all
peoples to God, a homecoming Jesus would accomplish through the saving, healing
power of his cross.” (Sanchez archives). The Gospel highlights the actions of Bartimaeus
which called healing from the heart of Jesus and prompted the now-seeing beggar to
follow Jesus as a witnessing disciple. The first reading, on the other hand, directs our
attention to God’s merciful actions: “delivering His people . . . bringing them back . . .
gathering them . . . consoling them… guiding them . . . leading them.”

The second reading (Hebrews 5:1), explained:

The reading describes Jesus as the High Priest of the new Covenant. It likens him to the
class of ancient priests, (sympathetic and patient, not glorifying himself), then
distinguishes Jesus from the others (because the Father called Jesus his Son). The
people addressed in this letter had been put out of the synagogues when they accepted
Jesus. Some were even abandoning Christ to return to Judaism. Hence, the writer of
Hebrews tries to comfort them by depicting Jesus as a superior replacement for the
priests upon whom they had formerly depended, because Jesus was appointed by God
to the Messianic mission to serve the people as intermediary between God and man.
Further, as man-God, Jesus had empathy for and profound patience with “erring sinners.”
The Jewish High Priest was a sinner all like others, and his role was to offer sacrifices to
God first for himself, and only then for the people as their representative. But Jesus,
sinless, offered Himself as a sacrifice for all sin, and will continue to act as our mediator
at “the throne of grace,” until the end of time. Again, Jesus, the Son of God, was appointed
directly by God to an even better priesthood (“the order of Melchizedek,” Ps 110:4). In
role, person, and appointment, then, Jesus surpassed every High Priest in ancient Israel.
Hence, through Jesus, the true High Priest, we can approach the throne of grace with
confidence and boldness, and we can expect mercy and favor from God. We are also
assured that that our High Priest, Jesus, is sympathetic to us because, having shared, and
continuing to share in our human nature, he is able to be compassionate. Having suffered
death to save us, Jesus is a wounded healer. Here, again, we see the gracious nature of
our relationship to our God. “I believe that I shall see the Goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living” (Ps 27:13)}

Gospel exegesis:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem through Jericho,
an ancient city fifteen miles away from Jerusalem. Jericho was the first city conquered
by the Israelites when they entered Palestine. It was a city of great wealth and remarkable
beauty, supporting many date palm plantations and fig trees. Great numbers of
merchants and Jewish priests made their homes in this pleasant city. The Mosaic Law
required every Jewish male over the age of twelve and living within fifteen miles of
Jerusalem to attend the Passover. Those who, for one reason or another, were exempt
from this obligation would often line the roads to Jerusalem to greet the crowds of
pilgrims as they passed toward the city. The Jewish rabbis on pilgrimage often taught
religious lessons to the pilgrims on their journey. Beggars also capitalized on the
increased traffic through the city to beg for money. One such beggar was the blind man
known as Bartimaeus.

James & John versus Bartimaeus: It is not by coincidence that this Gospel of blind
Bartimaeus follows immediately upon last Sunday’s text about James and John’s
ambitious request for positions of primacy in Jesus’ coming Kingdom. It is probable that
Mark intends to the two stories to be seen in contrast: James and John, although
possessing physical sight, evidently do not “see” Jesus for who He is, do not understand
Him and His message properly yet, and are still filled with pride and a desire for power.
Bartimaeus, on the other hand, although physically blind, evidently “sees” Jesus much
better than some of His own disciples; he recognizes Jesus as the promised Davidic
Messiah, but, instead of asking for power and glory, he seeks only the healing and mercy
that many Jews believed the Messiah to be bringing. (Rev. Dr. Watson, Jerusalem). Were
there two blind men, or one? Did this healing occur once or twice? St. Augustine is
convinced that Mark and Luke are recounting two similar but not identical stories,
involving two different men (de Con. Evan., ii, 65). Luke says that the healing happened
as Jesus was arriving in Jericho, whereas Mark says that it occurred as Jesus was leaving
Jericho. The fact that in Jesus’ time there were actually two Jerichos may be reflected in
the differences in the accounts of healing two blind men (Mt 20:29-34; Mk 10:46-52; Lk
18:35-43). Jesus healed the blind men after He left the old Jericho and as He was
approaching Herodian Jericho.

Jesus spots a particular blind man in the crowd: The story of Bartimaeus is the last
healing miracle recorded in the Gospel of Mark. (The name Bartimaeus in Aramaic meant
‘son of Timaeus,’ just as Peter was known as Simon bar-Yona, ‘son of Jonah’) The story is
presented dramatically. While the majority of those who received healing in the New
Testament are not mentioned by name, in this case, the beggar’s name is given as
Bartimaeus. When the people told Bartimaeus the news of Jesus’ passage through the
city, he screamed out for Jesus’ attention as one abandoned by both God and man, who
could scarcely dare to dream of something better. He began to shout his remarkable
prayer of Faith: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” (Perhaps there was a popular
sense that any member of David’s family had inherited at least some of their illustrious
ancestor’s powers? We should also recall that, especially under Roman occupation, the
title “Son of David,” with both its royal and messianic associations, would have had
strongly political overtones, and was potentially subversive. Dr. Watson). Jesus heard one
voice crying out through the noise of the crowd. Who would have expected a Messianic
greeting from a blind beggar? In spite of the crowd’s objections, Jesus stopped and,
recognizing Bartimaeus’ Faith, called the blind man over. In the Law of Moses, the blind
are among those who are to be accorded protection in the name of God. Leviticus
admonishes the Israelites not to “curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the
blind.” In Deuteronomy, those who lead the blind astray along the road are placed under
the same curse as those who withhold justice from the alien, the orphan or the widowed.
Psalm 146 proclaims that God gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down
and loves the righteous.

Bartimaeus’ response of trusting Faith: The people conveyed Jesus’ invitation to

Bartimaeus, who responded by jumping up, and running to Jesus. By addressing Jesus as
Son of David, the beggar publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah. At Jesus’ summons,
Bartimaeus threw aside his long cloak, his only possession, which protected him from
heat and cold. In throwing away his cloak, he gave up everything he had depended on,
putting his complete trust in God. Discarding his cloak represented a radical break with
his previous life (symbolized by his cloak), in the same way that Peter, James and John left
their fishing boats and nets behind them when “called” by Jesus. The energy and the
passion with which Bartimaeus responded to Jesus’ summons should characterize all
those who seek to respond to Jesus’ call. Jesus then asked, “What do you want me to do
for you?” Bartimaeus replied promptly: “Master, I want to see.” Jesus rewarded his Faith
by restoring both his physical and his spiritual sight. Having received physical and
spiritual sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus joyfully along the road. The gift of sight led
Bartimaeus to Faith, and Faith came to full expression in committed discipleship. He
wanted to stay close to his Savior, to thank, praise, and serve Him. Thus, today’s Gospel
presents Bartimaeus as the model for us in his prayer and in his wholehearted
commitment to a discipleship that included, and still includes, rejection by those who
refuse to believe. Bartimaeus is presented to contemporary believers as a guide in the
Christian way because he was a man of Faith and vision, a man unafraid to recognize his
need for healing and to cry out, “I want to see!” The man from Jericho invites us also to
follow him up the road. Let us remember the old Persian proverb, “A blind man who sees
is better than a seeing man who is blind.”

Lessons of Christian discipleship: The section of Mark’s Gospel that deals with
discipleship (8:22-10:52), begins with the healing of a blind man (8:22-26), and concludes
with the story of another blind man, Bartimaeus. In between these two stories are three
episodes in which the disciples are presented as blind to the meaning of Jesus’ mission
and of their own discipleship. Their spiritual “blindness” is evident in their persistent
misunderstanding. The gradual coming to sight of the first blind man (8:22-26), stands in
contrast to the story of Bartimaeus, who regains his vision at once and becomes a
follower of Jesus. The healing of the blind Bartimaeus contains four main elements of
Christian discipleship: a) the correct recognition of Jesus as Lord and Savior (“Jesus, Son
of David”); b) the acknowledgement of the need for Jesus’ help (“Have pity on me”; “I
want to see”); c) ready response to Jesus’ call (“He . . . came to Jesus“); and d) becoming
Jesus’ disciple (” … followed him on the way“). “The Church has always taught that the
life-changing grace of Christ is made available through the sacraments irrespective of the
holiness of the minister or the congregation. In the Eucharist, the sacrament of
sacraments, it is not just God’s grace but Christ’s bodily presence which is made
available. That means that every Sunday we have the same opportunity as Bartimaeus.
Then, why do so many of us go to Mass again and again and walk out the door much the
same as we went in? Why so little healing, so little growth in holiness? Maybe because
we lack the outrageously bold Faith of Bartimaeus. The gifts and charisms of the Holy
Spirit, forgiveness, healing, purification, guidance, all are there for the asking. Hence, in
the spirit of Bartimaeus, let’s determine to stop going home empty-handed.” (Dr.
Watson).

The Messianic implications: The healing of Bartimaeus has Messianic implications.

Jesus commended Bartimaeus because he had correctly understood that Jesus was the
Son of David and the expected Messiah. Referring to the coming of the Messiah, Isaiah
wrote: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be
unstopped” (Is 35:5; 29:18, 42:7). The Church has taken the persistent prayer of
Bartimaeus to heart. The prayer “Kyrie eleison” (“Lord, have mercy“), appears frequently
in the liturgy. Bartimaeus’ prayer has also become the source of “the Jesus Prayer:”
“Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” In its adapted form, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of
the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” it has become a popular Christian prayer.
The Church advises us to repeat it frequently, in acknowledgement of our sinfulness and
our need for God’s mercy. Like Bartimaeus, we should recognize — even in our blind
moments — the presence of Jesus. We can trust in the power of Jesus to give us new
visions and to strengthen us in our weakness.

Life messages:
1) Instead of remaining in spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight. Each one
of us suffers from spiritual blindness. Hence, we need the light of the Holy Spirit to
enlighten us. Anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits, addictions, sloth, etc., make
us spiritually blind and prevent us from seeing the goodness in our neighbours and God’s
presence in them. We are blind to a sense of justice when we refuse to pay our debts, or
when we collect our wages though we have not done an honest day’s work for that day’s
pay or have cheated our employer by taking time or items that belong to the company.
We are blinded by greed when we are never satisfied with what we have and incur debts
to buy luxury items. Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and
priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and
in our neighbours. A clear spiritual vision enables us to see the goodness in others, to
express our appreciation for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain from
criticizing their performance.

2) We need to “cry out” to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did. Like Bartimaeus, we must seek
Jesus with trust in His goodness and mercy. Sometimes our fears, anger, and habitual
sins prevent us from approaching God in prayer. At times, we even become angry with
God when He seems slow in answering our prayers. In these desperate moments, let us
approach Jesus in prayer with trusting Faith as Bartimaeus did and listen carefully to the
voice of Jesus asking us: “What do you want me to do for you?” Let us tell Him all our
heart’s intentions and needs. Let us imitate Bartimaeus, the man of Faith and vision, a
man unafraid to recognize his need for healing and to cry out, “I want to see!” Jesus
always responds to a prayer offered in Faith (CCC #2616), and this gives us continuing
Hope. We need to cry out humbly for mercy for our own spiritual blindness, as well as for
help for our troubled and troubling politicians. (CCC #2667).

3) We need to have the courage of our Christian convictions. We need people who,
like Bartimaeus, will refuse to be silenced by the secular leaders of our society. We must
make our politicians realize that our country is rejecting Christian principles and facing a
loss of values. A good example of this is the heated controversy over the First
Amendment to the Constitution in the U.S. The First Amendment says: “Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof.” This is a simple statement of the right of an individual to follow his own
conscience in worship. Unfortunately, it is often interpreted by activist judges to mean
that the expression of all religious ideas is forbidden by the government. This is a far cry
from the intention of the founding fathers. James Madison (the primary author of the
Constitution) said, “Religion [is] the basis and Foundation of Government…. We have
staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-
government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves… according to
the Ten Commandments of God.” Even Thomas Jefferson, who coined the phrase
“separation of Church and State”, wrote: “God gave us life and liberty. Thus, the liberties
of a nation cannot be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a
conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, and that they
are not to be violated but with His wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect
that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

Jokes of the week

#1: Two Polish men were taking their first train trip to Warsaw on the train. A vendor came
down the corridor selling bananas which they’d never seen before. Each bought a
banana. The first man eagerly peeled the banana and bit into it just as the train went into
a dark tunnel. When the train emerged from the tunnel, he looked across to his friend
and said, “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”
“Why not?” asked his friend. “Because it makes you temporarily blind.”

#2: A motorist with poor eyesight was driving through a dense fog and was trying
desperately to stay within range of the taillights of the car ahead of him. As he squinted
and worried his way along, trying to stay on course with those taillights, the car in front
suddenly stopped, and his car hit the car in the front. The driver of the rear car got out
and demanded to know why the other driver came to such an abrupt stop. “I had to,” he
replied, “I’m in my own garage!”
https://frtonyshomilies.com

REFLECTION 2
AN UNLIKELY OPTIMIST
There are other stories in the gospel about blind people being healed, but the one about
Bartimaeus is told in the liveliest way, and it has a nice lesson for us. The poor man had
lost his sight, and when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he had to make
a choice, quickly. He could just sit there and let Jesus pass him by, or he could grab the
moment, and ask to be healed. Jesus was said to have the power to heal, but you had to
get his attention and ask to be healed.
In an American cartoon by Schultz, a sharp-tongued little girl called Lucy was trying to
reform her schoolmate, Charlie Browne. She glared at him critically. “Do you know what’s
wrong with you, Charlie Browne?” she said. “What?” he asked nervously. Lucy fumed at
him and said, “What’s really wrong with you is that, well, you don’t want to know what’s
wrong with you!” Bartimaeus was not like that, for he knew quite well what was wrong
with him and was determined to have it cured! When he called out to Jesus, people
around him tried to get him to shut up and stay quiet. But he just shouted louder and kept
shouting until Jesus stopped and called him over. Although Bartimaeus was blind, Jesus
stayed where he was and let the blind man come to him. If he really wanted to be cured,
he would find a way to get to Jesus.

It was obvious that the man was blind, and yet Jesus asked him “What do you want me to
do for you?” The man had to clearly name his problem and do so himself. If one of us
needs to be cured of something, whether blindness, alcoholism, depression or any
addiction, then we need to come to Jesus and tell him what’s wrong. We need to NAME
it. Of course, he knows our needs, and yet he says “Ask and you will receive.” “Your
heavenly Father will surely give to those who ask.”

Bartimaeus’s words were simple and uncomplicated. There was no long speech, no
haggling or wheedling. “I want to see” was his direct reply. And Jesus told him that his
faith had healed him. Rightly, this blind man knew that Jesus would not turn away from
the cry of the poor. Just think of what he did: he threw aside his old cloak, got up, and ran
to Jesus. The old cloak may be a symbol for his past, his darkness, his despair. He made
an act of hope-filled faith, and Jesus did not disappoint him. All attempts of the
bystanders to silence him made him more determined. He was clear about what he
wanted, and knew who could help him. That’s why Bartimaeus has a lesson for us all,
here and now.

WHAT THE BLIND MAN HEARD

A blind man was invited to attend a wedding. The young couple were being married in a
village church well known for its architecture and its beautiful grounds. The guests were
commenting on all of this at the reception afterwards and how they were struck by how
well the church, the grounds and the setting all looked. When the blind man heard all this
he thought to himself, ‘But didn’t they hear the bell?’ For him, the church bell that pealed
to welcome the bride and groom had been magnificent. The air was filled with its vibrating
jubilation. He was amazed at the atmosphere of joy and celebration the bell had created
for the occasion. Everyone else seemed to have missed that element. Although he could
not see, perhaps because he could not see, his hearing was very alert. He heard the
beauty that others missed. The sounds that passed others by touched him very deeply.
Today’s gospel is the story of a blind man, a blind beggar. Although he was blind, his
hearing was very sensitive, so he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Although
he could not see Jesus, he made contact with him through his sense of hearing. His finely
tuned hearing to the presence of Jesus led him to using another sense to make contact
with Jesus, his sense of speech. He cried out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ Even
when people around Jesus, including perhaps some of Jesus’ disciples, told him to keep
quiet, he shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Even though he could not
see Jesus, he was determined to make contact with him through his gift of speech,
through his urgent prayer from his heart. His prayer was an act of faith on his part. He
recognized Jesus as ‘Son of David’ which was one of the titles for the Messiah and trusting
that Jesus could heal his blindness. His making contact through his hearing and his
speaking revealed that he had an inner sight. Even though he was blind, he saw Jesus with
the eyes of faith. Even when he was rebuked by the crowd for confessing his faith out loud,
he refused to be silenced. He had the courage to keep professing his faith, in spite of the
hostility and scorn it brought upon him. This man’s courage faith and the quality of
hearing and speaking and seeing it gave rise to may have something to teach us when
professing our faith publicly can invite scorn.

This man’s faith literally brought Jesus to a standstill, in spite of the fact that at this point
in his ministry he was hurrying from Jericho to Jerusalem. The gospel says simply, ‘Jesus
stopped.’ Jesus’ response to the heartfelt prayers of this man was in complete contrast to
that of the people around him. Rather than telling him to keep quiet, Jesus told those
around him to call him over. Jesus is portrayed as the champion of those not considered
worthy enough to come near to God. Again we witness the extraordinary responsiveness
of this man to Jesus’ presence, to the call of Jesus. When he heard that Jesus was calling
him, he first of all threw off his cloak. His cloak, no doubt, served many purposes. He
sheltered him from the weather; it was his bed; it was in a sense his home. Yet, he
abandoned it, and having done so, he jumped up and went unerringly to Jesus in his
blindness. Nothing was going to hold him back from connecting with Jesus, not even his
precious cloak. He speaks to all of us of our own need to free ourselves of the binds that
stifle our faith and keep us from approaching the Lord.

The question that Jesus asked that man when they came face to face was not the kind of
dismissive question that comes from annoyance at being interrupted, ‘What do you
want?’ Rather, it was a very personal question ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ It is
a question that we can all hear as addressed to each of us personally, and how we answer
that question can reveal a great deal about who we are and what we value. In the passage
in Mark’s gospel which immediately preceded this one, Jesus asked that same question
of two of his own disciples, James and John, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Their
answer revealed a self-cantered ambition, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one
at your left, in your glory?’ The blind man’s answer to Jesus’ question revealed a very
different heart. Aware of his blindness, aware of his disability, he asked simply, ‘Master,
let me see again.’ In answering his prayer, Jesus addressed him as a man of faith, ‘your
faith has saved you.’ He was already seeing Jesus with the eyes of faith before he received
back his physical sight. Once he received back his physical sight, we are told that he
followed Jesus along the road. He immediately used his newly restored sight to walk after
Jesus as a disciple up to the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus would be crucified. His faith
had shaped his hearing and his speaking, and now it shaped the path he would take. His
faith had shaped his hearing and his speaking, and we could do worse than take this man
as a model of faith in our own lives. Like him we are blind beggars who need to keep on
crying out to the Lord who passes by so that we can see him more clearly and follow him
more nearly.
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REFLECTION 3
The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B highlights God’s love and mercy. The readings
show how God listens to our cries and heals our brokenness. Here are some themes for
this Sunday:
God’s Restoration: God promises to bring back His people and heal their wounds.
In Jeremiah, God gathers His people from exile.
Compassionate Priesthood: Hebrews speaks of the high priest who understands
our weaknesses. Jesus, our High Priest, is compassionate and merciful.
Faith and Healing: In the Gospel, Bartimaeus shows great faith. Jesus heals him
because of his faith.
Call to Repentance: Jeremiah calls the people to return to God. God wants to
restore and forgive.
Jesus’ Compassion: Jesus stops to help Bartimaeus despite the crowd. His
mercy is shown in action.
Trust in God: Bartimaeus trusts Jesus completely. He believes Jesus can heal
him.
Joyful Return: Jeremiah talks about a joyful return to the Promised Land. God’s
people find joy in His promises.

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B reminds us of God’s love and mercy. The
readings show that God hears us and wants to heal and restore us.

GOD’S RESTORATION
In Jeremiah 31:7-9, God promises to bring back His people from exile. This is a message
of hope and comfort. God sees the suffering of His people and plans to restore them.
God’s restoration includes everyone, especially the weak and vulnerable. The blind, the
lame, and those in distress are all welcomed back. This shows that God cares for
everyone, no matter their condition.

We can find hope in this promise of restoration. No matter what we face, God is there to
bring us back and heal us. On the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, we remember that
God’s mercy is always available to us.

COMPASSIONATE PRIESTHOOD
Hebrews 5:1-6 talks about the high priest who offers gifts and sacrifices for sins. This
priest understands human weakness and has compassion. Jesus is our High Priest who
is merciful and loving.

Jesus was chosen by God to be our High Priest. He offers himself as a sacrifice for our
sins. This shows His great love for us and His desire to bring us closer to God.

We are called to have the same compassion as Jesus. On the 30th Sunday in Ordinary
Time Year B, we reflect on how we can be more understanding and loving towards others.
We can follow Jesus’ example of compassion in our daily lives.

FAITH AND HEALING

In Mark 10:46-52, Bartimaeus, a blind man, calls out to Jesus. Despite the crowd trying to
silence him, he persists. His faith leads to his healing.

Jesus stops and asks Bartimaeus what he wants. Bartimaeus asks to see again. Jesus
tells him that his faith has healed him, and Bartimaeus immediately regains his sight.

Bartimaeus’ story shows the power of faith. On the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B,
we are reminded to trust in Jesus. Our faith can lead to healing and new beginnings.

TRUST IN GOD’S CALL

Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, knowing He will face rejection there. He has been talking
about His coming sacrifice and the need to give everything for His mission. He also calls
His disciples to do the same.

Bartimaeus did not just gain his sight; he chose to follow Jesus. Bartimaeus has the faith
and courage to leave his cloak and everything behind to follow Jesus.

Jesus told Bartimaeus to go his way, but he chose to follow Jesus instead. This shows his
complete trust and dedication. Bartimaeus teaches us to follow Jesus no matter the cost.
On the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, we reflect on our own willingness to follow
Jesus. Are we ready to leave behind our old ways and trust in Him fully?

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B readings remind us of God’s love and mercy.
They show us the importance of faith, compassion, and trust in God. As we reflect on
these themes, let us open our hearts to God’s healing and guidance.
https://young-catholics.com

REFLECTION 4
FORMERLY BLIND, NOW FOLLOWING THE LORD
I can't understand this. I knew so much when I was in my 20's & 30's. I knew everything
about everything. But the older I get the more I realize how little I know. Where did all that
knowledge go? When I was a young priest, people would come to me with their problems
and I would have an instant solution. Now, I am not sure I can comprehend their
difficulties, let alone offer solutions. Perhaps, the wisdom of age is realizing how little we
know, and how much we are dependent on God to step into His view of the world. Part of
this wisdom is realizing that we need God to guide us from our blindness into His Light.

Bartimaeus, the blind man of today’s Gospel, was dependent on others for sight. But he
could hear well. He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, so he called out to him.
He was healed. And then, Bartimaeus did something a blind person cannot do. He
followed Jesus, not just figuratively, but literally. Bartimaeus walked behind Jesus along
with the other disciples of the Lord.

The first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah tells us that a day will come when the lame
will walk and the blind will see. That day began with Jesus Christ. Certainly, this is one of
the teachings in today's Gospel. Bartimaeus sees. The great days that Jeremiah had
prophesied had begun. But this Gospel reading is deeper than a demonstration of the
powers of the Messiah to give sight to the blind. It is speaking about seeing with the eyes
of faith.

A long time ago, I was approached by a renown artist named David Flackman. He told me
that he would like to do a painting of a saint for the parish and asked if I could recommend
one. I suggested him to consider St. Lucy. We had numerous people on the staff and in
the parish who had problems with eyesight. St. Lucy is the patron of eyesight. Her eyes
were taken from her as part of her martyrdom. David worked for quite a while on the
painting, using a local girl as his model. If you are ever in Tarpon Springs, FL, go to the
chapel at St. Ignatius of Antioch and take a close look at this painting. If you look at St.
Lucy’s face you would see that she has eyelids covering her eyes as well as a plate holding
her eyes. David explained to me that he wanted to convey that she is was seeing with
God’s eyes.
Bartimaeus saw with the Lord’s eyes even before the Lord healed him. He called out, “Son
of David, have mercy on me.” He saw with the eyes of faith. His faith resulted in his seeing
with his physical eyes. Then, Bartimaeus followed Jesus. The blind cannot follow
someone. Can you imagine the joy that Bartimaeus must have had to be able to follow
someone on his own, without being led? But the reading has a deeper level. Those whose
souls are blind to the Presence of God cannot follow him. Only those who are willing to
take a step of faith, a leap of faith, and seek out the Lord can follow Him. At the conclusion
of the long reflection on the healing of the Man Born Blind in the Ninth chapter of the
Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I came so that those who are blind may see." So, can

you imagine the joy of those whose lives seemed to have no direction, who lived in
darkness, when they find a path to life, a light to guide them? Wait a minute. We are those
people. We are the ones who had been in darkness and who now have light.

"I need direction in life," a lady once complained to me. “I don’t know what I am doing or
why I am doing the things I do.” Perhaps, we have all had times that we have felt the same
way. Why do we do that? Why do we look for direction, when all that we need is right in
front of us? We have been entrusted with a treasure, the very presence of the Lord. When
we feel we are lost, then, we need to get back to basics. “You will show me the path to
life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever,” the Psalmist
proclaims in Psalm 16 vs 11.

Jesus has brought profound joy to our lives. He has given us sight. We can see where we
need to go. We can follow Him. We can go to that place where all happiness dwells. Our
joy is realizing that like Bartimaeus we are not blind any more. We can follow the One who
gives Light to our lives.
Msg. Joseph Pellegrino

REFLECTION 5
The Gospel presents us with the mandate of Jesus namely, the commandment to love.
Jesus was asked which the greatest commandment in the Jewish Law was and he gave
not one but two commands, though the two are really one: Love God and love your
neighbour. If we believe in God, then we must live by these commandments. But this
makes us confident and happy. We know in Jesus that to know that God is love, and those
we should respond to him in love. For us he is a source not of anxiety, but of great comfort,
great hope, and great consolation. To love God is to acknowledge the source of meaning
and purpose of our existence, to embrace the truth, to wonder and admire at all that he
has made. Believing in God does not make us anxious or worried but encourages us in
our lives. He guides us in the decisions we must take. He challenges us to love one
another so that we bring happiness not only in our lives but in the lives of our neighbours.
He gives us comfort when we are sad, gives peace when desperate and hope when in
trouble. He gives us joy and blessings as we live our life according to his will. In the Gospel
we have the healing of Barthimaeus, the blind beggar to receive the new light and vision
from Jesus to be his disciple.

In our First Reading we heard the prophecy of Prophet Jeremiah revealing that a remnant
of loyal and faithful Israelites will one day return to their homeland from all the places to
which they were scattered by warfare and exile. Here the prophet is speaking about those
who suffered at the time of the collapse of the northern kingdom of Israel in the sixth
century B.C. Purified through their exile; they were the new Israel, faithful to God. The
prophet told them that they had brought on themselves all the pain and sufferings
because of their disloyalty to their kind God who had given them the Promised Land to be
their home. Through suffering, the people humbled themselves and turned to God with
sincere repentance. The reading is a hymn of praise and rejoicing because of what God is
going to do for his people. In this joyful moment, the people sang with gladness,
displaying endless echoes of thanksgiving to God who had delivered the weak, the lame,
those with children and those in labour.

In our Second Reading, we heard that while every high priest is chosen from among
mortal human persons, their own people. But he is chosen and appointed by God himself
to be in charge of things in relationship with God. He is to offer sacrifices on behalf of
people as they too must offer sacrifices for sins because they all are subject to human
weakness. Since they were weak and prone to sin, they were able to be patient with
sinners. The Letter reminds that a high priest is not appointed by a person himself or in
any way appointment by man. It is a calling from God, just as Aaron was called. Equally,
Jesus, although he is God-man did not seek glory by elevating himself as the high priest.
It was the Heavenly Father who appointed Him when he said to Jesus, “You are My Son,
today I have begotten you and am pleased with you.” Elsewhere, He said, “You are a Priest
forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” Christ is our High Priest, our intermediary
with God.

The Gospel passage of today is actually the final miracle story recorded in Mark. It comes
at end of a long section where Jesus is forming his disciples. Jesus was already instructing
them on the nature of the discipleship and his own identity. Throughout these narratives
the disciples appear to be blind as to who Jesus really was and what it means to accept
the demands, he had made from them. Jesus indeed points out to the necessary abilities
of the Christian disciple: to hear and understand the Word of God and to share the
message with others. All this now is contrasted with the healing of Bartimaeus. It is very
unusual to have a name given to a person Jesus heals. The action of the story is begun by
Bartimaeus himself who heard that Jesus was near. He cried out to him using an
Christological title, Son of David. We are not told whether the man understood the
meaning of the title, but he was able to draw the attention of Jesus. There was the two-
stage healing of a blind man. This story clearly indicated the gradual opening of the
disciples’ eyes as to the true identity and mission of Jesus. The section ends with the
healing of the blind man which is not merely coincidence.

The blind beggar on the road side cried out the words, Son of David has Mercy on me using
this unique messianic title of Jesus. He must have heard stories about him as a
marvellous healer. For him this was a great opportunity, a moment of hope to get him
healed. The disciples and the crowd think it was unseemly for a lowly beggar who was
also blind, bothering Jesus the Rabbi. In a similar way they thought that children should
not come and disturb Jesus when he was tired. After all, Bartimaeus was only a poor blind
beggar. He could not and should not disturb an important person like Jesus who is
respected as the rabbi. But Bartimaeus was not being put off so easily. He tried to draw
the attention of Jesus by calling out even more loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy
on me.” But the people around told him to be quiet. Jesus by now had already heard the
shouting of the blind beggar and stopped. He over ruled the disciples and called the blind
man to him and asked him what exactly he wanted Jesus to do for him.

It was an interesting moment of response of Bartimaeus to the call of Jesus, who threw
aside his cloak and came forward to meet the master. Many commentators think this
action should be understood more symbolically than literally. It represented Bartimaeus
casting off his old life in order to take up a new life of discipleship. Part of the requirement
for being a disciple of Jesus was to give up possessions which this blind beggar quickly
does. This indeed was the moment of hope for him. He seemed to be sure of receiving a
great gift namely his sight. So Bartimaeus gives Jesus very simple answers that he may
have his vision and that he may see. This was a very simple question, and Jesus receives
a humble and simple reply. It is the type of Christian prayer, a prayer of petition with the
understanding, ask and you shall receive.

Mark in the gospel passage wants to show his audience an irony. At the beginning of the
story, we saw a blind, an impoverished beggar sitting by the roadside and asking for help.
He now reaches out to Jesus. Jesus does show a contrast here between his chosen
disciples and the new disciple in the blind beggar. While his handpicked disciples were
not physically blind and had seen Jesus in action for a long time they were spiritually blind
as they did not understand who Jesus really is or what following him really means. They
had never used the title Son of David at any time while addressing Jesus.

Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah so much expected. This blind man, seated there
on the side of the road, understood it. Certainly, he did not see what Jesus had previously
done. He did not see the multiplication of bread and fishes and the recovery of so many
bags of leftover scraps, nor did he see the number of sick persons whom numerous
crowds have brought to Jesus, the Son of God becomes a Man. But first he believed in
that which some people who surrounded him said about this Man of whom he had heard
so much and whom they praised as a man of very great goodness. He lived first this mere
human faith and knew that this man who passed by was Jesus of Nazareth, the healer.
Hearing him passing by the simple human faith of Bartimaeus was transformed into a
divine faith. His faith inspired him to ask the Lord what he wanted him to do.

The request of the blind man is a model prayer for us: the Christian Prayer, the Prayer of
Petition. We ask the Lord in faith for something we need, and the Lord will grant it to us.
Perhaps Jesus had seen the blind beggar several times as he went about preaching and
he must have been busy collecting alms from people. Only when he opened himself in
faith and asked the Lord for healing did he receive that gift and the greater gift to be his
disciple. Like Bartimaeus we too may be busy sometimes collecting petty alms and
paltry donations and have not collected the real graces from the Lord. This episode is a
summary of the Christian’s life and pilgrimage. While physical sight is desirable, spiritual
sight is an absolute necessity for our salvation.

A 92-year-old man, who was fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock with hair
fashionably combed and face perfectly shaven, even though legally blind, moved to a
nursing home. His wife of 70 years passed away recently, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly
when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, the nurse
provided a visual description of his tiny room. “I love it,” he stated with the enthusiasm of
an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. “But Mr. Jones, you
haven’t seen the room; just wait.” “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied.
“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not
doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already
decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I
can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no
longer work or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the parts that do work. “Each day,”
he continued, “is a gift, and as long as my eyes open.”
Fr Eugene Lobo S.J.

REFLECTION 6
On Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, impacting the
southern Gulf Coast, including the city of New Orleans. At least 1,836 people were killed
and extensive damage throughout the area resulted. The nation was shocked to see
pictures and video of a major U.S. metropolitan city under water. The images of boats and
helicopters rescuing people from their rooftops amidst such devastation revealed the
severity of the aftermath. A week later on Labor Day, I went to the New Orleans
International Airport to provide whatever pastoral care I could to those still being rescued
and brought for evacuation.

One elderly couple I encountered shared their harrowing story with me of their survival.
The wife asked if my cell phone worked and if she could use it to call her daughter who
did not know if they were dead or alive. I quickly gave her my phone and was brought into
their tear-filled audio reunion. Afterwards I mentioned to them that I wished I could take
them home with me and I will never forget her words. She exclaimed, “Father, just seeing
you here reminded us that God did not forget about us. He has rescued us and will bring
us back.” In the midst of destruction and suffering, there was hope and a promise of
restoration, bringing comfort and immense peace. Today’s readings reflect this divine
promise of gathering, healing, and joy, and they invite us to recognize God’s unwavering
commitment to His people and our call to embody that same commitment in our own
lives.

In the Book of Prophet Jeremiah, we hear a promise of restoration and hope from God: “I
will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst. . .
. They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them” (31:8–9). This passage
speaks to a time of profound upheaval for the Israelites. They had been exiled, scattered,
and broken. Yet God promises to gather them back, to bring healing and solace to those
who are suffering. The imagery of the blind and the lame represents not only physical
ailments but also spiritual and emotional distress.

This image of God gathering His people, including those who are most vulnerable,
emphasizes His intimate care for every individual, regardless of their state. God’s
promise to console and guide His people is an assurance that His love transcends all
boundaries and reaches into the deepest parts of our lives. In our own lives, how often do
we find ourselves like the blind and the lame — struggling with our own limitations,
sorrows, and weaknesses? Yet God’s promise remains true: He seeks to gather us, heal
us, and lead us to His refreshing presence.

In the response, the psalmist reflects upon the Lord working in our lives and makes a
joyful proclamation, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy” (126:3).
This Psalm is a response to God’s miraculous interventions, celebrating the profound
shift from sorrow to joy that occurs when we recognize His work in our lives, especially in
the midst of trial and sufferings. Joy is then the fruit of gratitude. When we understand the
depth of God’s blessings, our hearts overflow with joy.

This joy is not merely an emotional reaction but a deep-seated realization of God’s
enduring goodness. It is an invitation to reflect on how God has acted in our lives and to
respond with gratitude and joy. Even in moments of difficulty, this joy serves as a reminder
of the constant presence and transformative power of God’s grace. He does not abandon
us in our trials.

We recognize through Christ as the great High Priest that He is present to us and the
Father and thus intercedes on our behalf. In the letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded
of the role of the high priest: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their
representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (5:1). The high priest
serves as a mediator, bridging the gap between humanity and God by offering sacrifices
on behalf of the people.

In his Homilies on the Priesthood, St. John Chrysostom explains that the high priest’s role
is to bring humanity closer to God, not through his own strength, but through the grace
that God bestows upon him. In Jesus Christ, we see the ultimate fulfillment of this role.
Jesus’ priesthood is not limited by time or space; it is an ever-present intercession that
reaches into every corner of our lives, offering grace and redemption. Christ, our eternal
High Priest, offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice, representing humanity before God and
offering us direct access to divine mercy and grace.

In Mark’s Gospel, Bartimaeus hopes for an encounter with divine mercy and grace. The
Gospel presents a poignant encounter between Jesus and Bartimaeus, the blind beggar.
As Jesus is leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside, cries out for mercy.
Despite the crowd’s attempts to silence him, Bartimaeus persists, showing a remarkable
faith and determination to cast all abandonment onto the Lord’s mercy. When Jesus asks
him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus responds in faith, “Master, I want
to see.”

This exchange is deeply significant. Bartimaeus’s request for sight is not just about
physical healing but symbolizes a deeper desire for spiritual enlightenment and clarity.
Bartimaeus represents the soul’s longing for the light of Christ, which dispels the
darkness of ignorance, doubt, and sin.

Jesus’ question to Bartimaeus is an invitation for each of us to articulate our deepest

needs and desires. It challenges us to be specific in our requests and to trust in Christ’s
willingness and ability to provide for us. Just as Bartimaeus’s faith and persistence led to
his healing, our own faith and openness to Christ can bring about profound
transformation in our lives, and not just our lives, but the lives of those we encounter.

As followers of Christ, we are called to mirror His compassion and mercy in our daily
interactions. Because we are invited to enter into the darkness of the lives of others, we
must ask ourselves how can we gather those who are lost, console those who are
brokenhearted, and guide those who are seeking direction. Just as Jesus engaged with
Bartimaeus personally, we must also engage with those we encounter with empathy,
understanding, and a willingness to meet their needs. We may not be able to solve others’
problems, but as in the case of the elderly couple in the airport, we can be a light of hope
in their darkness, to see that God did not forget about them.

Today’s Scripture readings offer a powerful message of hope, healing, and joy. God’s
promise to gather and console, the joy of recognizing His great deeds, the intercessory
role of the high priest, and the personal encounter with Christ all converge to remind us
of Christ’s enduring love, grace, and presence. As we reflect on these themes, let us open
our hearts to God’s healing and guidance and strive to be instruments of His mercy and
joy in the lives of those we encounter. May we, like Bartimaeus, have the courage to seek
the light of Christ and may our hope-filled encounters be a reflection of the Lord’s
boundless love and compassion.
Rev. Joshua J. Rodrigue, S.T.L

REFLECTION 7
BROKEN BUT NOT BEATEN
As much as we hope to see the Church grow in size and influence, Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, made this prophecy back in 1969 which has been
proven to be true, at least in the West as we have witnessed, a free fall drop in members
and vocations:
“From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge — a Church that has lost
much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the
beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity.
As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges
(…) And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis
has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals”

This prophecy seems to be in the vein of the doomsday prophecies so commonly uttered
and recorded the Old Testament - all fire and brimstone and destruction. On the surface,
the words of Pope Benedict do little to inspire but rather can be a cause for despair.
Perhaps, this is reflective of the life of the blind Bartimaeus before his chanced meeting
with the Lord. Like Bartimaeus, when thinking about the terminal diagnosis given about
the Church, it is easy to wallow in self-pity, to complain about our dire situation and view
everything around us through the lenses of darkness. And yet the good news is that light
shines brightest in the dark.

In the first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah is commanded by God to make the following
announcement to the remnant population of a decimated nation: “Shout with joy for
Jacob! Hail the chief of nations! Proclaim! Praise! Shout: ‘The Lord has saved his people,
the remnant of Israel!’” In the midst of disaster and national tragedy, the prophet declares
that God is the father to Israel, and in fact, Israel is His cherished first-born son - the sole
heir to His inheritance according to the law of primogeniture. Who are these remnants?
The idea of a “remnant” sounds either like the survivors of some Holocaust or a band of
puritanical hold-outs who have kept themselves unsullied from the depravity of their
present age. But this is not the biblical understanding of the word, even among the Jews.

According to an ancient Jewish tradition, the universe is sustained by the presence of at

least thirty-six tzadikim, or “righteous ones”, in every generation. The story of Abraham’s
intercession on behalf of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah may have inspired this
tradition. Just like any good apocalyptic prophecy which continues to maintain the
suspense, no one knows the identity of those tzadikim. They are humble souls who
quietly pray and perform good deeds for the benefit of the world. Just like the description
given in Hebrews of the role of the High Priest, as someone who “has been taken out of
mankind and is appointed to act for men in their relations with God, to offer gifts and
sacrifices for sins.” And so, it is believed that God does not judge the world on account of
these saintly “remnant” souls.

If the understanding of what a remnant means is connected to the presence of this

mysterious group of righteous saints, a pattern seems to emerge here which should allow
us to understand the nature and mission of the remnant. The remnant is neither the
victim of God’s wrath nor do they delight in it. Quite the contrary: the remnant exists to
appease it. They never take advantage of their status as righteous ones in the eyes of the
Lord to call fire and brimstone to rain on the sinners’ heads, but they pity the sinners and
sacrifice themselves for them, even the unrepentant ones. They are not harbingers of
God’s justice, rather they are the emissaries of His mercy. Through them, God’s mercy
becomes manifest to all mankind.

Therefore, the mission of a remnant Church is not resignation, nor is she to wallow in self-
pity nor should she grow resentful in complaining about her plight. When we do this, we
are like the crowd of by-standers and disciples who try to silence the cries of those who
cry out like Bartimaeus. Rather than facilitating an encounter with the Lord, we act as His
greatest detractors and become obstacles to others to make progress on the path to
holiness. No, this is not the mission of the “remnant Church.” Rather than withdrawing
into a cocoon of self-pity and safety, we are called to be intercessors and mediators. We
should go out and redouble our efforts to share the gospel message and invite others to
join the faithful remnant. We are called to uphold the true teachings of the gospel and be
a beacon of light in a world seen as darkened by sin and apostasy. To those cowering in
fear and shrouded in darkness like Bartimaeus, let us encourage them with this
exhortation: “Courage, get up, He is calling you.”
So, let us not perceive the Church’s smallness with fear or reticence, but with faith and
courage. Our voice may seem small but it is amplified with the roaring power of the Holy
Spirit and Christ’s sanctifying grace working in and through the Church. Salvation will
come not from success and efficiency measured by the standards of the world, but from
Jesus Christ alone, who has promised never to abandon His Church. We must be joyful
and content, for it is only when we’re weak that we’re strong (2 Cor 12:9-10). It is only by
being the grain of mustard that we, as a Church, will be able to grow into the greatest tree
in the field, where the birds from heaven will be able to roost, rest and sing (Mk 4:30-32).

In an interview, our Holy Father Pope Francis summarised the prophetic vision of Pope
Benedict XVI in these words: “Pope Benedict was a prophet of this Church of the future,
a Church that will become smaller, lose many privileges, be more humble and authentic
and find energy for what is essential. It will be a Church that is more spiritual, poorer and
less political: a Church of the little ones.” Rather than bemoan the passing of her bygone
glory or seek to insulate herself in bubble-wrapping, we should rejoice at the grace of
being tenderly pruned at the hands of a Loving Father, for what would emerge from this
“smaller”, “humbler”, “more spiritual,” “less political” church is something that will
continually surprise and excite us.

In the visionary words of Pope Benedict: “But in all of the changes at which one might
guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was
always at her centre: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man,
in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world. In faith and prayer she will again
recognise the sacraments as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical
scholarship.” This is our conviction of faith and hope – that when we come to our Lord
with the enduring faith of Bartimaeus, we are convinced that we will see again, we will be
refreshed again, our vigour and excitement will be reignited again to follow Christ once
more.
Rev Michael Chua

REFLECTION 8
MY TEACHER, LET ME SEE AGAIN
Good morning my brothers and sisters in Christ. How pleased the Lord God must be to
see this beautiful gathering of His children who hunger for spiritual food that comes from
the message of the Gospel.

During today's Gospel Reading, we heard of the persistent blind man who said to Jesus,
"My Teacher, let me see again." What does it mean to see? Is there not physical and
spiritual sight? While physical sight is desirable, spiritual sight is an absolute necessity
for our salvation!
During the First Reading, we heard of the small number of people who had escaped the
Assyrian captivity of 721 B.C. Purified through their exile, they were the new Israel, faithful
to God. Through suffering, the people humbled themselves and turned to God with
sincere repentance. Originally, while they had physical sight, they were spiritually blind.
But now, through the suffering of slavery, they had received spiritual sight.

In this joyful moment, the people sang aloud with gladness, displaying endless echoes of
thanksgiving to God who had delivered the weak, the lame, those with children and those
in labour. These were the ones who had received spiritual sight, they knowing and
understanding the righteousness of the Lord that delivers salvation.

During the Second Reading, we heard that while every high priest is chosen from among
mortals and appointed by God to be in charge of things that pertain to God on their behalf,
they too must offer sacrifices for sins because they also are subject to human weakness.
The function of a high priest is not one of self- appointment or an appointment by man. It
is a calling from God, just as Aaron was called by God.

Equally, Jesus, although God in human form, did not seek glory by elevating Himself as a
high priest. No, it was the Heavenly Father who appointed Him when He said to Jesus,
"You are My Son, today I have begotten you." Elsewhere, He said, "You are a Priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek."

To understand this Bible passage, we must have spiritual sight. Like the blind man, we
must pray, Jesus, "My Teacher, let me see again." And when we receive spiritual sight, we
come to know and understand that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." [1
Cor. 3:19] Through worldly sight, we can appoint anyone as priests, the famous, the
intelligent, the educated, those who are slim, etc... but what guarantee have we got that
they will be good priests? None whatsoever! But God knows the hearts and He cannot
make an error in His infinite perfection. By embracing a spiritual heart, applying our gift
of spiritual sight, we can walk in harmony with the Divine Will of God and appoint priests
that have been chosen by God to carry on the work of His ministry on earth.

Spiritual sight is not limited to the appointment of priests. It applies to everyone in every
actions that are performed during the day. It applies to spiritual growth to ensure that the
doctrines that are learned are sound like a house that is built on a solid foundation.

Many claim to have spiritual sight, to understand the teachings of Jesus Christ through
the Holy Catholic Church. And they also claim to obey them. But do they?

Do you know that the Internet can be a blessing? It brings into light the severity of how
many Catholics have fallen from the truth and the grace of God, embracing errors that
justify drawing the Wrath of God. In the past, while reviewing the content of some alleged
Catholic websites, I have asked myself so many times, "How can they be so spiritually
blind?" Let me share some of my discoveries of spiritual blindness.

1. We all know how the Church tells us to value life. Pope John-Paul II has exhausted
endless efforts to put an end to the death penalty throughout the world. But, in year 2000,
knowing this, a Catholic judge passed the death sentence on a man. To justify this action,
the lawyer indicated that this was not a Catholic doctrine but rather the personal efforts
of the Pope.

The question here is, "Are we spiritually blind to the power of the Holy Spirit that is being
manifested through the Pope who is the spiritual father of the Holy Catholic Church?" By
permitting the death penalty, is this not saying that the Pope is not inspired by God in his
actions?

2. Let us look at another area of spiritual blindness. How many Catholic politicians
throughout the world have voted in the past in favour of abortion legislature? By doing so,
are they not automatically excommunicated in accordance with the teachings of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church? And yet, why is it that we hear nothing about their
excommunications? Has everyone hardened their hearts to the point that they are
spiritual blind, this ensuring their silence?

3. Again in year 2000, the Archdiocese of Baltimore condemned a local locutionist who
claimed that Jesus would return again as a child. Why did the thousands of Catholics
have to wait for the Archdiocese to make a decision on the matter? Were they all blind to
this Satanic deception? There is a large number of locutionists and "christian"
movements, Catholic and non-Catholic, that are making the same claim. Have they all
gone spiritually blind?

4. Another Catholic website promotes that one only has to say "Father" once to God the
Father and he will be saved. According to this website, we do not need Jesus anymore!
Catholics are flocking towards this movement, promoting images of God the Father on
medals, books, etc... while the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly teaches us that
God the Father is neither man, nor woman. He does not have a physical form. (C.C.C. #
239) Have these Catholics also become spiritually blind?

5. And then there are those locutionists who promote the false teaching of a Second
Coming of Christ to rule for a thousand years on earth. Regarding this, the Catholic
Church says, "The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-
messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in
the flesh." (C.C.C. # 675) Such a belief is not of God!
6. And then there are the Catholics who have misunderstood the spirit of ecumenism.
Here and there, we hear of some who are promoting ecumenism as meaning that all
religions are equal, just being different ways of getting to Heaven. How can we debase
the Catholic Church and say that other religions are equal when they do not have the
apostolic succession, nor the Sacraments, that are absolutely necessary for salvation?
Have we become spiritually blind where we no longer value the Sacraments of the
Catholic Church?

7. From another perspective, fallen away Catholics are joining separated brother and
sisters who claim apostolic succession, some of these groups promoting mystical books
that were previously banned by the Holy Catholic Church because their content opposed
the teachings of the Church, endangering the faith of the believers. Have so many
Catholics become spiritually blind to the extent that they will accept the writings of false
mystics over the teachings of Jesus Christ that are found in the Church?

8. And then there are the Catholics who are living in adulteress affairs and who are
receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist while in their state of mortal sin. Is this not
blasphemy against God for willingly approaching the Sacred Altar while in a state of
mortal sin?

9. And what about the spiritually blind Catholics who no longer perceive the Sacrament
of Baptism as a necessity to enter the Kingdom of God. These parents no longer have their
children baptized because they do not feel it is important.

My brothers and sisters, I can go on and on about the spiritual battle that is taking place
in this world between God and Satan. The fruits of Satan are abundant, touching every
parish around the world. The saddest part of it all is not the fact that some have become
spiritually blind by living in sin, but the fact that those who are supposed to enjoy spiritual
sight, in reality, are spiritually blind by the fact that they have closed their eyes to these
sins as if they did not exist.

When one has spiritual sight, he speaks up against the evils of the world, the falsehoods
that are infiltrating the Church. Concerned with the salvation of all his brothers and
sisters, he points out the errors that oppose Catholic teachings. And he does not run after
false teachings because of supernatural manifestations that surround them, nor read
material associated with false teachings. Why? Because such material corrupts the soul,
places doubts in the mind and finally corrupts the heart of the individual.
This week, we should all access our status in the eyes of the Church. Are we all living as
faithful Catholics should be living. Or are we embracing false teachings that endanger our
faith? Do we have spiritual sight or are we spiritually blind?

I pray that today's Word of God will touch the heart of those who have been spiritually
blind so they will find the strength in Christ to walk away from what destroys the faith. And
I ask all my brothers and sisters in Christ to join their prayers with mine this week for the
grace of God to shine on those in need so their eyes may be opened and remain opened.
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REFLECTION 9
“SUSPENSE AND INCOMPLETENESS”
My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –
One aspect of our human nature is that most do not like to wait. Most people hate waiting
in line – or for a delayed event to start. We dislike it when a project is held up – or a trip
postponed.

Time always seems to drag when we must wait for something important. This is true for
us at any age. And it is especially true for children, teens, and young adults.

However, with real maturity and advancing old age, we learn to accept waiting. At times,
however, it can still be frustrating, distracting, and even discouraging. Because a famous
writer once said that we must live with the suspense of our own life’s unfolding. It is
waiting with the realization of our incompleteness. We are waiting for that unknown
something – that we sense will complete us and make us whole!

During the time of Jeremiah the prophet, the Chosen People were being scattered to the
four winds. Israel was led captive to Assyria. Judah was exiled to Babylon. Some even fled
to Egypt – taking the unwilling Jeremiah with them.

In all this disruption and displacement, the faithful few had so little hope. Yet, these were
the Remnant who kept their religious beliefs no matter where they happened to be.

Consequently, God used Jeremiah to bring them some comfort and hope. There would be
a time of restoration. Every faithful person would be included. The blind, the lame,
mothers with children, and those with a child in their womb would be brought back. This
would happen because God was faithful and loved them.

However, none of this happened for generations to come. And when that restoration
finally began – it continued to evolve over hundreds of years!
Bartimaeus of St. Mark’s Gospel was someone who waited. He waited in suspense every
day of his life. He was blind – He was a beggar. Each day he sat and waited for the coin or
two that would sustain him. Bartimaeus was incomplete – and he knew it!

However, suddenly there was hope. Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. So Bartimaeus
cried out for help. People tried to silence him. But he would not be silenced. So Jesus
stopped – had him brought forth and cured him.

However, what was amazing is that Bartimaeus did not go his separate way afterwards.
Instead, he became a disciple of Jesus. His faithfulness to God resulted in a special
grace. As a disciple, he followed Jesus who was on his way to suffering and death in
Jerusalem!

Brothers and Sisters, we are incomplete – and we know it. Experience has proved this,
time and time again. Nothing here, in this life, can completely fill us. True believers seem
to know this and understand that only God can fill and fulfill them. But God’s plan for us
takes time to unfold. And so much of our life is waiting for that plan to develop and take
place in our own regard.

What is so tragic is that so many give up on God because God doesn’t seem to act. God
doesn’t do what they want – or when they want it. Some even deny His existence because
they see so much evil in the world. And some of that evil has touched their lives in terrible
ways.

Nevertheless, God is always present. God might not change our situation – or accelerate
our personal growth – But He is always there. He is there with His grace. He is there with
His Love and His Mercy. He is always there with His mysterious providence. And He is
there with His promise of a future life – a life that is beyond our ability even to imagine!
So let us take heart.

Let us pray for the grace of patience and steadfastness. May we trust in God’s plan for us
as it unfolds during our present life of suspense and incompleteness. Amen.
Msgr. Russell G. Terra

REFLECTION 10
Bartimaeus is a blind man healed by Jesus as he went out from Jericho on his way to
Jerusalem shortly before the Passion Week (Mk 10:46-52). Except for Jairus (5:22) this is
the only personal name given by Mark apart from those of Jesus and his disciples along
with John the Baptist and Herod (Antipas) until the Passion narrative begins. Besides,
Jairus and Bartimaeus are the only proper names used in the miracle stories. For an
earlier healing of a blind man see Mark 8:22-26.
Bartimaeus’ cry for compassionate help is evidence of his faith in Jesus’ power to heal
and in Jesus’ role as the agent of God’s mercy. Bartimaeus the beggar asks not for money
but for healing. The fact that Bartimaeus is dissuaded but shouts out all the more
confirms the depth of his faith in Jesus. Mark notes that Bartimaeus threw his outer
garment, a detail which other evangelists omit as unnecessary. This style makes Mark’s
story of Bartimaeus very memorable and attractive. Some interpreters find a symbolic
significance in Bartimaeus’ action as putting off his old and evil way of life. But for a blind
man to be a beggar in first-century Palestine was not particularly disgraceful.

Jesus tells Bartimaeus that his faith has made him well. There is no healing word or touch
here. There is implication that Bartimaeus’ faith has “saved” him. The healing is
instantaneous and complete, in contrast to the gradual healing in Mark 8:22-26.
Bartimaeus became a believer of Jesus and went up to Jerusalem with Jesus, though he
is never heard of again. The beggar Bartimaeus asks for more than money and he gets
even more than he asks for – eternal life. Bartimaeus emerges as an exemplar of faith in
Jesus and seems to accept Jesus’ invitation to become his disciple.

The Marcan journey narrative has been primarily concerned with coming to see who Jesus
is and what it means to follow him. More important than the restoration of Bartimaeus’
physical sight is his spiritual insight into the person of Jesus. It is also important that a
blind man ironically identifies correctly when others do not. He leaves his possessions
and is eager to come to Jesus. And he follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. His way
becomes Jesus’ way to Jerusalem and all that it signifies. He needs no second healing
because by the end of the story he is a fully realized disciple, embodying all that Mark
taught in the previous section about what it means to be a disciple.
– AK

REFLECTION 11
The mood of today’s readings is summed up well in the Responsorial Psalm. The people
have seen their country ravaged by war, their city Jerusalem (called Zion in this psalm)
has been destroyed along with its temple, and they have been living as exiles in Babylon.
Then, to their utter amazement, they have been given permission by king Cyrus, the
Persian conqueror of Babylon, to return home, to rebuild their country and their lives. It
was all too good to be true. In the words of the psalm ‘When the Lord restored the fortunes
of Zion, it seemed like a dream’(Psalm 126:1). They had left Jerusalem in tears, now they
are returning ‘full of song’. Their exile is over, there is still much that needs healing and so,
in the midst of their overwhelming joy, they continue to pray: ‘Deliver us, O Lord, from our
bondage, as streams in dry land’(Psalm 126:4).

This experience of being an exile is part of everybody’s life. We all have dreams that are
unfulfilled. We all sense a mystery that is being enacted in our lives that we cannot
understand and that no one else seems to recognise. In an ultimate sense we experience
it as a longing for our real home, which is with God and which we call heaven. Paul says
what we all know – that we do not have here an abiding home. Sometimes we are loved
very beautifully and we seem to escape from this sense of longing. Sometimes we
manage to fill our lives up in such a way that we put our loneliness out of sight for a while.
But inevitably – and let us add ‘thank God’ – we have to experience and face our feeling of
being exiles, for that is the fact of the matter, however much we enjoy being part of this
wonderful world.

The feeling is not meant to paralyse us. This is where we are, so let’s get on with living as
lovingly and creatively as we can. But if we never feel the pull of home, if we fail to realise,
with Saint Augustine, that the reason why our hearts are so restless is that we have
eternal longings and we can only finally find rest in God, then we are in grave danger of
cluttering up our hearts and wasting our lives. The Japanese express the concept of being
‘too busy’ with two characters: one is heart and the other is destruction. If we so busy
ourselves that we repress the feeling of being in exile, we are in danger of destroying our
hearts. We are here to laugh all our laughter and to cry all our tears, not to blot out reality
in a life of distraction.

Look at the man in the Gospel. He used to see once, but now he knows he is blind. He
has lost it. He is going nowhere, stuck on the side of the road. Isn’t it good that he knows
this, for when he hears that Jesus is passing by he resists the pressure of the crowd and
cries out in his distress to the only one who can help him see again.

Will Jesus understand his cry? The author of the Second Reading is convinced that he
will. ‘He can sympathise with those who do not know or are uncertain because he too
lives in the limitations of weakness’. A few verses earlier he has reminded us that Jesus
was tested in every way that we are. However, unlike us, he did not sin. Jesus knew the
blind man’s longing. Jesus knows what it is like to be an exile, even to feeling abandoned
by God. But he kept crying out. He kept loving. He kept walking on the way -­- the way to
the crucifixion but also the way to the resurrection. We all have our crosses. They are
there whether we cry out or not. We can’t always run away from them. Jesus teaches us
to face them in faith. The resurrection was God’s response to Jesus’ cry, and God will love
us all through our pain and finally into his eternal embrace.

The blind man somehow sensed all this and so he cries out to Jesus. Mark wants us to
see him as a symbol for us all. A fortnight ago it was a rich man who felt the call but
couldn’t let go his possessions to follow his dream. He went away from Jesus sad. Last
week it was people who were jealous of their position and power. Jesus tells them to get
in touch with the little child in them – the little child who is crying out for life. Today we see
a man with nearly nothing. All he has is an old cloak. He slept in it and during the day he
placed it in front of him hoping for a few coins from a compassionate passer-by.

He knows what he wants - they all do. They sense something in Jesus that is beautiful and
free. He calls out and he won’t let anyone talk him out of it. Jesus stops. Of course he
stops. This is God who hears the cry of the poor. He wants to respond to the blind man’s
call. But notice that Jesus does not call the man himself. He does it through others. That
is the way it happens. Jesus hears our call and he answers it through those who listen to
him and learn to love as he loves. He needs us to love for him.

Now comes the important part. The man throws off his cloak. It is all he has but it is
enough to hold him back. In fact one gets the impression that it is the cloak that is making
him unable to see. A bird cannot fly if you tie its leg with a piece of string. But even if you
tie it with the thinnest gossamer thread, it cannot fly unless it can break the thread. There
is nothing much holding this man back, but he has to throw it off or he will never be able
to run to Jesus. he has to cast off the cloak or he will never be free to see. What am hiding
behind? What am I holding on to, however insignificant, that is keeping my hands clasped
and so unable to receive God’s gift. What is stopping me go to Jesus with open hands?

Jesus, with typical respect, does not presume to know what the man wants, but asks him:
‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Let that be Jesus’ question to each of us today. Jesus
loves us. He doesn’t make decisions for us. He doesn’t control us or lock us into a cage,
however safe it might appear. He doesn’t constrain us. he wants us to be free, really free.
So he asks us to ask ourselves what it is that we really want. Why are we unsatisfied, off
the road and blind? What do I want Jesus to do for me?

The blind beggar asks to see again. And it is his ‘faith’ that makes it possible for him to be
healed and so to see. The sight we are talking of here is not the sight of the eye, or even
the sight of the mind. It is the seeing of the heart that knows it is made for love and that
recognises in Jesus the God who is the answer to its longing. It is the sight of one who
knows its own powerlessness, and who cries out for grace, trusting in the mercy of God
revealed in Jesus. It is this faith, and nothing else, that makes it possible for the disciple
to ‘follow Jesus on the way’ — the way to Jerusalem, and so to death: the way through
death to the resurrection and fullness of life as God’s beloved.

In silence, let us contemplate this scene, and be the blind beggar. Let us taste our
experience of being blind, of being alone, by the side of the road, missing out on life. Let
us cry out for help. Let us anticipate a response and listen for it. Let us be willing to cast
off whatever it is that gives us our security, little though it may be, and let us run to him.
Fr. Michael Fallon
REFLECTION 12
BACKGROUND ON THE GOSPEL READING
Today we continue to read from Mark’s Gospel. In this Gospel, we find evidence of Jesu’
fame in the sizable crowd that accompanies him as he journeys to Jerusalem. Jesus’
reputation as a healer has preceded him. When the blind man, Bartimaeus, hears that
Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, he calls out to him, asking for his pity.

When Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus, the crowd around him tries to silence him. Yet
Bartimaeus persists, calling out more loudly and with greater urgency. He will not be
silenced or deterred from getting Jesus’ attention. We notice how quickly the crowd’s
reaction changes when Jesus calls for Bartimaeus. Those who sought to quiet him now
encourage him.

When Jesus restores Bartimaeus’s sight, no elaborate action is required. (In other healing
stories in Mark’s Gospel, actions accompany Jesus’ words). In this instance, Jesus simply
says that Bartimaeus’s faith has saved him. Throughout Mark’s Gospel, the success of
Jesus’ healing power has often been correlated with the faith of the person requesting
Jesus’ help. For example, it is because of her faith that the woman with the haemorrhage
is healed. When faith is absent, Jesus is unable to heal; we see this after his rejection in
Nazareth.

Once his sight has been restored, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. In
Mark’s Gospel, Bartimaeus is the last disciple called by Jesus before he enters Jerusalem.
Bartimaeus hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, but he calls out to Jesus using
words of faith—“Son of David.” Many in Jesus’ time believed that the anticipated Jewish
Messiah would be a descendent of King David. Bartimaeus’s words prepare us for the
final episodes of Mark’s Gospel, which begin with Jesus’ preparation for the Passover and
his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. As Mark has shown us in our readings over the past
few Sundays, however, Jesus will be the Messiah in a way that will be difficult for many to
accept. Jesus will show himself to be the Messiah through his suffering and death.
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