Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today we have this beautiful passage about Bartimaeus who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah without even seeing him.

Most people need to see first in order to believe. However Bartimaeus believes first which then allows his sight to return.

When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by he had to make a choice. He could just sit there and let Jesus pass him by or he could grab the moment and ask to be healed.

It would have been a lot easier for Jesus to go to Bartimaeus but Jesus requested him to come. In order for Bartimaeus to come and meet Jesus he had to literally take a blind leap of faith.

He wouldn’t have had many possessions. Maybe a mat and a mug for food and a bowl for donations. Yet these would have been prized possessions for him as he could not exist without them.

For him to leave these was a great risk as he may not find them again. So he left all his creature comforts behind in wanting to meet Jesus.

We must do the same. Jesus invites us to come and meet him. We must make the same blind leap of faith and this could involve leaving what is dear to us behind.

But we must not underestimate the ability of Jesus to give us life to the full. He allows us to see clearly what is really important in this life.

So Bartimaeus leaves his mat, 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. It was also his only security. It sheltered him from the weather.

The mat was his bed; it was in a sense his home.  There was no guarantee that he would find it again. He made an act of faith.

All attempts of the crowd to silence him made him even more determined. He was clear about what he wanted, and knew who could help him.

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.

If we need to be cured of something then we need to come to Jesus and tell him what’s wrong.  We need to name it.

This man’s faith literally brought Jesus to a standstill. Jesus would have been hurrying with a noisy crowd from Jericho to Jerusalem. But the gospel simply says, ‘Jesus stopped.’ And listens to the heartfelt prayers of this man.

Rather than telling him to keep quiet he calls him over. Jesus is the champion of those not considered worthy enough to come near to God.

The question that Jesus asked him when they came face to face wasn’t dismissive and impatient asking ‘What do you want?’ But 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 lot about who we are and what we value. He asked simply, ‘Master, let me see again.’

In this world we need to see first in order to believe and yet Bartimaeus believed in order to see. Ultimately Christianity as a whole is a way of seeing. It is a continuous transformation of our vision.

None of us see clearly in this life. We don’t see ourselves clearly or those around us clearly in relation to God. We all need God to help us see properly.

There is a saying “There are none so blind as those who will not see”

Sometimes we can cling so tightly to what we think is the truth of a matter that when it actually meets us face to face we still refuse to see it.

How often Christ passes nearby and yet we don’t see Him. We are too blinded by our pride. By our distorted vision of how we think our faith should be, by our own complacency.

If today Jesus asked us “What do you want me to do for you?” What would our answer be?

Do we believe in who the person of Jesus is so that he can really do this for us?