Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer. 31:7-9 | Ps. 126:1-6 | Heb. 5:1-6 | Mk. 10:46-54
Bartimaeus calls out: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” Evidently, people told him about Jesus and he believed the stories despite the fact that he could not see. Bartimaeus’ faith is seen in two other acts. First he continues to call out to Jesus despite the fact that all are trying to silence him. Second, when Jesus tells him to take courage and get up, Bartimaeus throws his cloak aside and stands up. The cloak was the permit he had from the government to enable him to beg. In throwing it aside he gave evidence that he believed he would be cured. When asked by Jesus what he wanted, he replied, “I want to see.” Jesus then cured him and said, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” The story leads us to ask ourselves if we have any cloaks that we cling to that keep us from seeing Christ in our lives. Also, do we have faith in Jesus’ ability to heal us? Perhaps we are too occupied with our present state that we don’t really want to change or be healed. Bartimaeus speaks to us to take courage and to call out to God for all that we need.
Take time to be with Bartimaeus. Ask him to teach you how to listen to God’s Word, to have faith and trust to ask for healing and courage to respond. Is there anything that you cling to that prevents you from seeing what needs to be healed or changed in your life? Ask God to help you throw it away in order to be healed.