Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9 – I will guide them by a smooth path where they will not stumble.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 125(126) – What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-6 – You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52 – Go; your faith has saved you.

God is not far away as some people imagine; God is near. However, a lot of people find it difficult to see God. This is because, between us and God, there is a very big obstruction. If you are able to surmount this obstruction, you will have a clear and unimpeded view of, and interaction with, God. That obstruction is the crowd. But it is not easy to surmount this hurdle. The reason is because one finds oneself always in the minority. And if one doesn’t stand one’s ground, the person can easily get intimidated by the sheer number of the crowd and their constant scolding and cajoling. A lot of people have fallen prey to the antics of the crowd; and when they start off on a spiritual journey, they are unable to arrive at their destination. Only very few people are able to stand their ground despite the constant intimidation by the crowd. These people eventually find themselves face to face with God, and they are consequently healed of their ailments. Bartimaeus is one of those few individuals.

Here was a man with infirmity who was sincerely praying to Jesus for healing. He apparently must have heard about Jesus and his miraculous powers, and was fortunate enough to have been at the right place and at the right time when Jesus was passing through the streets of Jericho. He decided therefore to attempt his luck by praying to Jesus for mercy. But he was told by the crowd to keep quiet; to stop “shouting”. For the crowd, Bartimaeus’ sincere prayer was viewed as nothing but noise-making. Had he listened to the crowd, Jesus would have just passed by without ever noticing him. And this is how Jesus constantly passes by us without ever noticing most of us because we have failed to distinguish ourselves from the crowd – the very opposite of what Bartimaeus did. Our friend, Bartimaeus, distinguished himself from the crowd, disregarded them, and kept on praying until Jesus was forced to stop and take a look at him. When you are in crisis of faith, do you listen to the so-called advice of people who tell you to look for solutions elsewhere, or do you keep on praying until Jesus stops to call you by your name? One needs the courage and the persistence of Bartimaeus to navigate through the constant cajoling and deriding of the people in order to focus exclusively on God. If this courage and persistence is lacking, there is the danger that the crowd will ultimately intimidate you into submissiveness.

Back to the drama! When Jesus finally called Bartimaeus, he asked him just one question: “What do you want me to do for you”? This is not a simple question, and does not require a hasty answer. If Jesus was to ask you this question right now, what would be your answer? Think deeply, and don’t rush to give your response (…). The greatest problem in the world is not war or terrorism. The greatest evil is not nuclear bomb or biological weapons or even hunger. The worst disease in the world is not cancer or covid-19. As terrible as these problems and evils and diseases are, there is one and only one tragedy that has bedevilled humankind – BLINDNESS. The root cause of every other evil or problem in the world stems from the fact that we, human beings, are not clear-sighted. It is our blindness that gives rise to every other evil. Once we are cured of our blindness, then we have tackled every other problem from the root. Bartimaeus appeared to have realised this when he requested to see again. We should not just understand his request from the point of view of his physical blindness. Beyond our physical eyes, do we even notice that we are blind at all?

Think of the many areas in life where you are blind! Think of concrete things, not abstractions: Why do people discriminate between foreigners and citizens, black and white, slaves and freeborn, etc.? They do so because they are so blind to see that everybody is the same, having been created in the image and likeness of God. Why do societies divide themselves into haves and have nots? They do this because people are so blind to notice that since everybody is the same distance away from the sun, it doesn’t really lessen the distance if one lives in a skyscraper. Why do people plan evil against others? Because they fail to see that any harm done to somebody is a double harm done to oneself. And why do people refuse to help others in need? For the simple reason that they have failed to see that it is impossible to help somebody without helping oneself. Why do the so-called powerful nations amass nuclear warheads – chemical and biological weapons capable of destroying the entire planet within seconds? Because they fail to see that their power depends on the continuous existence of this planet. Once our planet is destroyed, both they and their powers will also be obliterated. Why do rich countries hoard the covid-19 vaccines and are already giving their citizens the third doses when most poor countries cannot afford to even give their own citizens the first doses? The reason is that these rich countries are so blind to see that in this globalized world, you can never really insulate a particular country against such infectious and fast spreading disease as covid-19. They fail to see that the best way to stop the spread of the disease in their countries is to ensure that the same disease does not take root in other countries. We can go on and on with examples of how blindness is to blame for every single evil and inequality in the world. We need therefore to pray that we be cured of our blindness so that, like Bartimaeus, we can begin to follow Jesus along the road to eternal life.

Bartimaeus also thought us that prayer is not all about using so many words. Some of us think that to pray effectively means to use so many words and frame our sentences in such a way as to become so long and unending. But for Bartimaeus, his prayer consisted of only three simple words: “Domine ut videam” – Lord, I want to see. If only we could reduce our words to the essential ones when we pray! It is not how many words we utter that make our prayers effective. It is rather how sincere we voice our innermost concerns. If it is faith that you seek, why not just say, Lord, increase my faith; if it is healing, why not just say, Lord, heal me; if it is forgiveness, why not just say, Lord forgive me. When we sincerely utter our innermost concerns in very few unambiguous words, God hears and answers our prayer equally in few unequivocal words like he did to Bartimaeus: “Go; your faith has saved you”. May we humble ourselves and learn how to pray from this poor, blind man of Jericho!