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Mark
10:46-52
The
Blind Man of Jericho
46-52. "Hearing the commotion
the crowd was making, the blind man asks, `What is happening?' They told him,
`It is Jesus of Nazareth.' At this his soul was so fired with faith in Christ
that he cried out, `Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' "Don't you
feel the same urge to cry out? You who are also waiting at the side of the
way, of this highway of life that is so very short? You who need more light,
you who need more grace to make up your mind to seek holiness? Don't you feel
an urgent need to cry out, `Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me'? What a
beautiful aspiration for you to repeat again and again!... "`Many
rebuked him, telling him to be silent.' As people have done to you, when you
sensed that Jesus was passing your way. Your heart beat faster and you too
began to cry out, prompted by an intimate longing. Then your friends, the
need to do the done thing, the easy life, your surroundings, all conspired to
tell you: `Keep quiet, don't cry out. Who are you to be calling Jesus? Don't
bother Him.' "But poor Bartimaeus would not listen to them. He cried out
all the more: `Son of David, have mercy on me.' Our Lord, who had heard him
right from the beginning, let him persevere in his prayer. He does the same
with you. Jesus hears our cries from the very first, but he waits. He wants
us to be convinced that we need Him. He wants us to beseech Him, to persist,
like the blind man waiting by the road from Jericho. `Let us imitate him. Even if God
does not immediately give us what we ask, even if many people try to put us
off our prayers, let us still go on praying' (St. John Chrysostom, "Hom.
on St. Matthew", 66). "
And
Jesus stopped, and told them to call Him.' Some of the better people in the
crowd turned to the blind man and said, `Take heart; rise, He is calling
you.' Here you have the Christian vocation! But God does not call only once.
Bear in mind that our Lord is seeking us at every moment: get up, He tells
us, put aside your indolence, your easy life, your petty selfishness, your
silly little problems. Get up from the ground, where you are lying prostrate
and shapeless. Acquire height, weight and volume, and a supernatural outlook.
"And throwing off his mantle the man sprang up and came to Jesus. He
threw off his mantle! I don't know if you have ever lived through a war, but many
years ago I had occasion to visit a battlefield shortly after an engagement.
There strewn all over the ground, were greatcoats, water bottles, haversacks
stuffed with family souvenirs, letters, photographs of loved ones...which
belonged, moreover, not to the vanquished but to the victors! All these items
had become superfluous in the bid to race forward and leap over the enemy
defenses. Just as happened to Bartimaeus, as he raced towards Christ.
"Never forget that Christ cannot be reached without sacrifice. We have
to get rid of everything that gets in the way--greatcoat, haversack, water
bottle. You have to do the same in this battle for the glory of God, in this
struggle of love and peace by which we are trying to spread Christ's Kingdom.
In order to serve the Church, the Pope and all souls, you must be ready to
give up everything superfluous.... "And now begins a dialogue with God,
a marvelous dialogue that moves us and sets our hearts on fire, for you and I
are now Bartimaeus. Christ, who is God, begins to speak and asks, `Quid tibi
vis faciam?' `What do you want Me to do for you?' The blind man answers.
`Lord, that I may see.' How utterly logical! How about yourself, can you
really see? Haven't you too experienced at times what happened to the blind man
of Jericho? I
can never forget how, when meditating on this passage many years back, and
realizing that Jesus was expecting something of me, though I myself did not
know what it was, I made up my own aspirations: `Lord, what is it You want!
What are You asking of me'? I had a feeling that He wanted me to take on
something new and the cry, `Rabboni, ut videam', `Master, that I may see,'
moved me to beseech Christ again and again, `Lord, whatever it is that You
wish, let it be done.' "Pray with me now to our Lord: `doce me facere
voluntatem tuam, quia Deus meus es tu" ( Psa_142:10 ) (`teach me to
do Thy will, for You art my God'). In short, our lips should express a true
desire on our part to correspond effectively to our Creator's promptings,
striving to follow out His plans with unshakeable faith, being fully
convinced that He cannot fail us.... "But let us go back to the scene
outside Jericho.
It is now to you that Christ is speaking. He asks you, `What do you want Me
to do for you?' `Master, let me receive my sight.' Then Jesus answers, `Go
your way. Your faith has made you well.' And immediately he received his
sight and followed Him on His way." Following Jesus on His way. You have
understood what our Lord was asking to from you and you have decided to
accompany Him on His way. You are trying to walk in His footsteps, to clothe
yourself in Christ's clothing, to be Christ Himself: well, your faith, your
faith in the light our Lord is giving you, must be both operative and full of
sacrifice. Don't fool yourself. Don't think you are going to find new ways.
The faith He demands of us is as I have said. We must keep in step with Him,
working generously and at the same time uprooting and getting rid of
everything that gets in the way" ([Blessed] J. Escriva, "Friends of
God", 195-198).
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Luke
18:35-43
The Cure of the Blind Man of Jericho
35-43. The blind man of Jericho is quick to use
the opportunity presented by Christ's presence. We should not neglect the
Lord's graces, for we do not know whether He will offer us them again. St. Augustine described
very succinctly the urgency with which we should respond to God's gift, to
His passing us on the road: "`Timeo Jesum praetereuntem et non
redeuntem': I fear Jesus may pass by and not come back." For, at least
on some occasion, in some way, Jesus passes close to everyone. The blind man
of Jericho
acclaims Jesus as the Messiah--he gives Him the messianic title of Son of
David--and asks Him to meet his need, to make him see. His is an active
faith; he shouts out, he persists, despite the people getting in his way. And
he manages to get Jesus to hear him and call him. God wanted this episode to
be recorded in the Gospel, to teach us how we should believe and how we
should pray--with conviction, with urgency, with constancy, in spite of the
obstacles, with simplicity, until we manage to get Jesus to listen to us.
"Lord, let me receive my sight": this simple ejaculatory prayer
should be often on our lips, flowing from the depths of our heart. It is a
very good prayer to use in moments of doubt and vacillation, when we cannot
understand the reason behind God's plans, when the horizon of our commitment
becomes clouded. It is even a good prayer for people who are sincerely trying
to find God but who do not yet have the great gift of faith.
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