What do we want from Jesus? What do we want from our faith? What do we want out of life? These questions came to my mind as I thought about our Gospel readings from the last several weeks from the 10th chapter of Mark, in which people ask questions of Jesus, in which different people want different things from him. Two weeks ago, a rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Although the people of Ancient Israel would have seen this young man’s prosperity as a blessing from God, he walks away from his encounter with Jesus in sadness, unwilling to give away his possessions to the poor, unwilling to make that final leap in order to follow Jesus unconditionally as his disciple. Then, in last week’s Gospel, James and John asked Jesus to grant them positions of honor when he rises to his glory in God's kingdom. Today, we meet the blind man Bartimaeus, begging on the side of the road, certainly not in a position of honor or glory. Bartimaeus asks Jesus to have pity on him.
Like James and John who want to be honored and who want to rise to positions above the other apostles, like the rich man who cannot let go of his attachment to wealth and possessions, we can become prisoners to many things in our lives. Amassing material possessions, or attaining a position of power, or fitting into the value system of our modern world, or having a good time - all those things are not intrinsically bad in themselves. However, the ways of our modern world can seduce us away from God.
We can learn so much from what Bartimaeus asks of Jesus. Indian Jesuit priest Father Paul Coutinho, wrote a book entitled How Big is Your God? In his book, Father Coutinho states that God is fundamentally an experience, not a theology. This makes sense, but there are many Christians who approach God as a theological construct or an idea rather than an experience in their lives. Some Christians approach their faith as a set of commandments and rules rather than a personal experience with the living Christ. For Bartimaeus, God is an experience in his life, an experience that he realizes can help him. He reaches out to Jesus without any constraints or embarrassment, as he shouts out to him from the side of the road: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me, have mercy on me!” But what do the other disciples do? Rather than encourage Bartimaeus or laud him for his great faith in Jesus’ power to heal, rather than validate his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, in the lineage of King David, Jesus’ disciples try to restrain him and silence him! But Bartimaeus is direct and tenacious, as he won't back down, as he keeps calling out, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
This is a great Gospel for us to hear on World Mission Sunday. It is our yearly opportunity to honor our life as Catholics through the special call we received at baptism to be missionaries. It reminds us of the service offered by the Church’s missionaries in bringing Christ’s message of salvation to all people in all lands. Jesus reaches out to Bartimaeus in a missionary spirit today with his message of Good News, telling Bartimaeus to go on his way, that his faith has saved him. Yet, upon gaining his sight, Bartimaeus does not go off on his own, but immediately, he decides to follow Jesus on the way. It is thought by some Scripture scholars that Bartimaeus was in Jesus’ group of followers who went to Jerusalem and were with him before he died.
The theme for World Mission Sunday this year is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, which states: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Pope Francis explains this theme by stating: “as Christians, we cannot keep the Lord to ourselves,” as we “recall with gratitude all those men and women who by their testimony of life help us to renew our baptismal commitment to be generous and joyful apostles of the Gospel.” Indeed, as disciples of Christ, we should want to share our own experience with Christ with others. We should see no other alternative.
Think about how Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, would have been of little account to his neighbors and his community. Yet, he was able to see more clearly than many who followed Jesus. He already believed that Jesus was the Messiah and trusted Him to heal his blindness. The way he jumped up to run to our Lord and then instantly followed him when he received his sight reveal just how much Bartimaeus rejoiced, not only in having his eyes opened, but also in his faith. That reflects that joy that should be in all of our hearts in the missionary spirit to which the Church calls us. But, how many believers are willing to express their faith with the exuberance and gratitude of Bartimaeus?
Most of you are aware, before the COVID pandemic, yet I was going out regularly with some of our parishioners to the prison and to Whitfield state hospital. We are eagerly waiting to restart our ministries out there once we get the go ahead. Until recently, I had been going to the parishes out in Paulding and in Newton on a regular basis to celebrate Mass because no other priest is available. Even now, with my business weekend Mass schedule, I still go out to Millsaps to minister to the college student at the Mass there on Sunday evenings. It is my missionary spirit and my love of the Gospel that propels me to want to continue with those ministries. I bet all of us can find opportunities where we can reach out to others and share our love of the Gospel.
In our desire to evangelize and to share the Gospel with others, let us willingly show our belief in the Christ who heals spiritual blindness as joyfully as Bartimaeus – for all the world to see.
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