Posted by The WORD in other words by Fr. Deva Savariyappan, SVD – Yangon, Myanmar
Thursday 8th Week in Ordinary
Image: Wikimedia Commons
People call upon God in different ways – by reciting prayers, singing, dancing, meditating, ringing the bell, etc. We are so eager that God hears and answers us. In today’s Gospel, Bartimaeus, the blind man, calls Jesus by crying out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” Not once but twice, he cried out.
Some lessons from the Gospel:
1. Bartimaeus used the once-in-a-lifetime OPPORTUNITY when Jesus passed by. Even though he was blind, he made use of his ears to hear from others that Jesus was passing by, and his voice to call upon Jesus.
2. Bartimaeus had FOCUS:
Despite his blindness, he focused his mind on Jesus though the crowds tried to distract him by telling him to be silent.
3. Bartimaeus had PERSISTENCE:
People rebuked him. But the blind man was not discouraged. He persisted in calling out Jesus all the more!
4. The goal of Bartimaeus was clear – he wanted to SEE:
He did not ask for money or material things. He had only one clear intention, that is, to see.
5. Who are we in the story? Are we the crowds who didn’t care to see the poor blind man and thus became blind themselves? Do we care to see the people sitting at the roadside? That roadside could be our own family, neighborhood, workplaces, etc.!
Or are we like Jesus, who had all the time to stop and talk and heal the blind Bartimaeus, who, as someone said, had an outrageous faith?
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