God is ready to bring us back

Homily for October 25, 2015 (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52

We’ve all heard of “the blind leading the blind.” The phrase is meant to convey the stupidity and futility of having leaders that seem no more competent or insightful than those who follow. We sometimes forget, however, that those who are blind in one way can be gifted in others.  For example, while the Marvel Comics superhero Daredevil (Matt Murdock) is blind—a decided challenge when facing bad guys—his other senses are enhanced to compensate for his lack of physical sight.  He can hear a heartbeat 20 feet away and read by feeling the impressions of ink on paper.

Sometimes, in fact, the blind can lead others quite well—even those who profess to see.  Bartimaeus, whom we meet in today’s gospel reading, is a model for anyone who needs healing, transformation or redemption—that is, all of us.  Blind and surviving by begging, Bartimaeus heard Jesus approach and felt his presence.  He cried out, “Son of David, have pity on me!”  The term “Son of David” was often used for the Messiah, so without yet being a follower of Jesus, Bartimaeus possessed an insight and faith that many of Jesus’ closest disciples did not yet have.

Bartimaeus sought Jesus out by persistently calling after him without shame or hesitation, even when the disciples sought to shut him up.  When Jesus asked him what he wanted, his response was simple and direct:  “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus, affirming Bartimaeus’ faith as his salvation, pronounced his healing.  Now blessed with the gift of sight, Bartimaeus “followed him on the way.”

Jesus’ compassion for the sick, suffering and marginalized didn’t come by accident.  As the author of the Letter to the Hebrews 5) notes, that compassion flowed from Jesus’ own humanity as well as his divinity:  he could “deal patiently with the ignorant and erring” because he himself struggled with weakness.  He knew hunger and fatigue, frustration and sorrow, just like we do.

So how come we sometimes find it so hard to come before the Lord in prayer?  Why do we sometimes avoid dealing with our own physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual disabilities?   In truth, we let other things get in the way.  Blinded by everything from pride and fear to a host of compulsions or addictions, we sit mute by the side of the road while the sources of our healing pass us by.

Yet God’s word and promise, echoed in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, are clear:  Whoever and wherever we are, no matter how weak and vulnerable we may be, God is ready to bring us back and make a way for us, too.  We need only follow the example of Bartimaeus:  acknowledge our condition; sense the Lord’s presence; discern how we need to be healed; ask for it; trust that we will receive what we need; and be prepared to follow Jesus on the way. +