Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Homily)

October 25, 2015 11:00 am · Deacon Rick Nevins

Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me. That persistent cry of Bartimaeus pleading with our Lord to show him mercy, lead to his being healed. The healing that we all long for, although not everyone recognizes that they need healing. We need to be healed from the desire that only God can fulfill. Bartimaeus was physically blind, a poor beggar who was limited to sitting along the path that others freely traveled. A place where he could ask for and hope in the charity of others. His lack of sight left him in the state of perpetual darkness. Living on the fringes, and considered to be by many of little worth. That is, until he heard Jesus was coming his way and the faith within him welled up to a point where it refused to be silenced.

You know we are all a lot like blind Bartimaeus. We all suffer from blindness in one form or another. His was a physical ailment, while the majority of us are blind in different ways. And while Bartimaeus was aware of his blindness, most of us go through life unaware of what we cannot see. Blind to the obstacles that keep us from achieving the greatness that we are all called to. We see and inkling of this in the people who rebuked him. They saw a sightless dirty beggar who they perceived to be a nuisance. Who was just at their feet getting in the way. They didn't see him as a fellow Israelite, one who was overcome with the news that it was Jesus in his midst. The one he had heard of, the one who gave him hope was near.