THIRTIETH
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Jeremiah
31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52)
One has to love
today’s gospel. It is full of all the passion and meaning typical of the Gospel
according to Saint Mark.
To fully
understand what Mark wants to tell us here, we have to remember last Sunday's
gospel. When the Zebedee brothers ask Jesus for a favor, the Lord answers them:
“'What do you want me to do for you?'” It is the same answer that he gives to
the blind Bartimaeus in today's gospel. Saint Mark is calling us to compare the
two requests or, rather, the speakers of the two.
James and
John ask from the Lord the highest positions in the Kingdom. They desire
prestige and power for their own aggrandizement. In contrast, the blind man
asks for sight so that he may fully appreciate the reality that God has
created. He wants to work, have a family, perhaps exercise some independence,
but he also wants to help his neighbors.
How can we presume
that the blind man has all these good objectives in mind? Because of what he
does once the Lord grants his desire. He does not collect the alms he has
received to celebrate his new vision. Rather, he leaves everything to follow
Jesus along the way. For Bartimaeus, money is a small thing compared to vision which
he will use to carry out his discipleship.
Once again,
Mark emphasizes Jesus as the Messiah who comes to serve others. He is not angry
with the Zebedee for their outrageous request. Rather, he shows them patience
and confirms them as disciples when he invites them to drink from his cup of
suffering and endure his baptism of blood. His favor to Bartimaeus is even more
generous. He grants his request to see in order to confirm the blind man’s
faith in him as the “son of David”; that is, the Messiah. It is true Christian
faith that realizes that the Messiah does not come to subdue peoples with his
sword but to forgive the sins of people with his death on the cross.
Somehow, we
must adopt Bartimaeus' faith. Even though we are neither blind nor unemployed,
we lack spiritual health. We are inclined to think of ourselves as more worthy
than others. We are apt to shirk our responsibilities when we have the
opportunity. Many of us are like the people in the story who try to silence the
shouting blind man. We regard faith as a private matter that does not allow
public displays. We believe that each person can live out faith according to
his or her own judgment. It is spiritual blindness that can be lethal. We
belong to a community of faith with designated leaders to be followed.
In the
gospel Jesus pays no attention to these people. Rather, he hears the one who
cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” It is the faith of this
poor blind man that we must imitate. As the
story of Bartimaeus ends with him following Jesus along the way, we must follow
the pope, the vicar of Christ.
