Monday of the
Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(I Maccabees 1:10-15.41-43.54-57.62-63; Luke 18:35-43)
The language of faith is often undercut by popular
thinking. When a person says that she
“believes” something, most people hear a modicum of doubt in her voice. They understand her to mean that she does not
know for sure but only thinks that what she says is true. This kind of qualified assertion is hardly
what the Church understands by faith.
Faith is a way of knowing with more certainty, not less, that what is
said is true. The reason for such conviction
is that the tenets of faith have been revealed by the Lord.
In the gospel the unnamed blind man, called Bartimaeus in
Mark’s version, demonstrates real faith.
Not wavering a bit, he acts on his belief that Jesus is the Messiah by
making a scene. Because such faith is
always rewarded, the man receives the sight which he requests. The gospel adds that he wastes no time to
follow Jesus. True faith in Jesus can do
no less.
In a way it is understandable why many people possess
faith that is tainted by doubt. Some
Catholics put at the heart of faith things of lesser importance. A woman, for example, worried that there is
one way and no other to pray the rosary.
But the rosary is not part of the liturgy and may be prayed in any
dignified way as the Divine Chaplet movement has demonstrated. Truths at the heart of faith –the Trinity,
the Incarnation, the resurrection from the dead, etc. -- are non-negotiable. We should accept these truths with all our
mind and, more importantly, live then with all our heart.
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