30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Jer 31:7-9
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Heb 5:1-6
Mk 10:46-52

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Today's Gospel story of Blind Bartimaeus, the man who receives his sight from Jesus, brings back memories. In grade school I read a fictional story of the life of Bartimaeus prior to that encounter with Jesus. It's what's called the "back story" in movies, the history of the character not portrayed on the screen. I don't remember the name of that book, but the memory has been with me all these years.

Imagining a whole life history for Bartimaeus helps me to put his response to Jesus into a context. We don't know the real story, of course, and can only work with what Mark gives us.

But I think that, like Bartimaeus, each of us is a person with some degree of faith. You wouldn't be attending to my words here if you weren't. Like him, we want to see. Our deepest wishes, our courage when we take a risk, the generosity we might feel in response to God's grace are all inside of us, like they were in Bartimaeus.

Today, God invites us to step out of our personal stories into the lights, in front of the camera, and into the story of the Kingdom. What a thrilling and dramatic moment it is, as we hear the Lord ask us, "What do you want me to do for you?"

And our response…?

Scripture:

•The Lord has delivered his people, (Jeremiah 31:8)

•Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy. (Psalm 126:5)

•You are my son: this day I have begotten you; (Hebrews 5:5)

•He threw aside his cloak, sprang up and came to Jesus. (Mark 10:50)

•Jesus told him, “Go your way your faith has saved you.” Immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10:52)

Reflection:

•What hope is there for a blind beggar?

•How committed is Bartimaeus in receiving a cure from Jesus?

•What does he do once cured?

•If you were healed of your affliction today, what way would you follow?

And once he heard and understood the Word of God, he tried to put it into practice in his own life. For him the Word was life and not to live it was to deprive himself of really living. That was what the dream was really about in his own mind: to dare to live radically and simply, to take a chance on Christ. And what caused inestimable joy in Francis and his brothers was that the Gospel worked. If you tried to live it without reservation, you suddenly experienced a whole new worldview and you felt as though you had never lived before.