Homily Ordinary 30B: Master, I want to see

Homily for Ordinary Time – 30th Sunday Year B 2018 

Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 5:1-6, Mark 10:46-52

Introduction 

Can you imagine what being blind is like, what the life of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in our gospel was like?  Like some of you, I wear glasses, because I am short-sighted.  And although my eyesight is not as bad as some, I need glasses to drive and to see people who are at a distance.  If I were to remove my glasses now, I would not see you clearly, seeing only shapes.  Some mornings when I wake up and can't find my glasses, it can be a little disturbing, especially since I need glasses to find my glasses.  Sometimes this happens when I am already running late to come here for Mass at 8am.  But even this experience pales in comparison to that of someone like the blind Bartimaeus who could not see at all. 

Scripture and Theology 

Clearly the physical blindness of this man was  great burden.  He could not enjoy the beauty of flowers and paintings, the beautiful scenery around him, and most of all, he could not see his loved ones.  At a time when they did not have Braille and other aids for the blind, he probably could not read and also did not have a job, because practically all the jobs such as a carpenter, a fisherman, a rabbi needed use of sight.  That is why Bartimaeus is not only blind, but he is also a beggar.  And he calls out to this rabbi called Jesus asking repeatedly: "Son of David, have pity on me."  And when Jesus asks him "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus, who is already used to begging, unambiguously begs: "Master, I want to see."  And after the Lord healed him, he followed Jesus. 

But this gospel story is more than just about the blindness of  Bartimaeus and Jesus' healing him.  In the first reading Jeremiah prophesied that through the Messiah, God would restore his people to their glory and that the blind would recover their sight.  Bringing the recovery of sight to the blind was one of the things that the Messiah was expected to do.  And so in healing Bartimaeus and other blind people, Jesus is fulfilling this prophecy. 

But more importantly Jesus is also fulfilling this prophecy by healing the spiritual blindness of the disciples.  Today's gospel story in chapter 10, ends a section of Mark's gospel which began in chapter 8 with the healing of another blind man.  Sandwiched between these healing stories, Mark has portrayed the disciples as being blind to the message of Jesus.  In the past few Sundays, we have heard story after story showing the spiritual blindness of the disciples. 

• Do you remember last Sunday's gospel, when James and John wanted a favour from the Lord?  Jesus asked them virtually the same question he asked Bartimaeus today: "What do you wish me to do for you?"  Do you remember their answer?  It wasn’t, “we want to see,” or “give us wisdom,” or “give us faith”.  No, they asked for power, privilege and prestige, to sit at his right and at his left in his kingdom. 
• Then two Sundays ago, we heard how the disciples could not see why giving up material things was necessary for entering the Kingdom.  Jesus had to tell them: "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." 
• Three Sundays ago, Jesus had to rebuke the disciples for stopping children from coming to him, just like they try to stop Bartimaeus from asking him for help.  He had to remind them that: “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” 
• And finally, four Sundays ago, the disciples were blind to the fact that God's power can work even beyond their small circle.  When they had tried to prevent someone from driving out demons in Jesus’ name, because he did not belong to their group, Jesus told them: "Do not prevent him,” just like today he stops them from preventing Bartimaeus from coming to him. 

We could go on and on; but it is clear that the disciples, time and again are failing to get the message of Jesus.  They are as blind as Bartimaeus or even worse; for unlike Bartimaeus, they did not even know that they were blind. 

Fortunately for them, in healing Bartimaeus, Jesus kills two birds with one stone.  He restores physical sight to a suffering man; but he also points out and begins to heal the blindness of the disciples, by slowly opening their eyes to his message of salvation. 

Christian Life 

What about us, the disciples of today?  How well do we see the message of Jesus?   Whenever I visit my eye doctor, besides my shortsightedness, he looks for two common types of physical blindness are blurred vision and tunnel vision. 

Blurred vision is often caused by cataracts.  People with cataracts often describe their vision as being like looking through a dirty windshield of a car.  Everything they see is clouded and blurred. 

In our society today, we have no shortage of cataracts or dirty windshields to cloud our ability to see the full message of Jesus.  Today's cataracts include the political and social ideologies by which we see not only everything in the world, but also we receive the gospel.  One of my teachers in high school taught us that these misleading ideologies are easy to recognise since they often end in the suffix, "ism": conservatism, liberalism, communism, capitalism.  Of course one of my smart aleck classmates then asked the teacher, what about "baptism?"  Is that a bad thing, since it ends in "ism"?  That is when the teacher used the occasion to teach us another concept that "the exception proves the rule." 

Three years ago Pope Francis visited this country and reminded us of "our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development."  People who heard him through the cataracts of political ideology, heard him say different things.  Some thought he was only talking about protecting the unborn.  Others thought he was talking about the life of the living.  But those who heard him without any cataracts heard him to teach the complete message of Jesus Christ, that cares for the life of every human being, from natural conception to natural death. 

The other common type of blindness tunnel vision is often caused by glaucoma.  People with glaucoma start by losing peripheral vision, so that all they see are the objects close to the centre of the field of view.  Such limited vision is the kind that race horses often have because they are wearing blinders, to keep them from being distracted or spooked by the crowds at a race track. 

We have no shortage of spiritual glaucoma or blinders to limit our embracing the full teaching of Jesus.  Such tunnel vision will only see a narrow portion of the gospel message, excluding much else that happens to be on the peripheries of our field of view.  Such tunnel vision might therefore exclude certain teachings from Catholic orthodoxy, because it fails to see them.  Such tunnel vision might therefore exclude certain people from the Catholic fold, because it fails to see them.  That is why Pope Francis has reminded us of the gospel message that enjoins us to consider those on the peripheries of society that can easily fall out of our view because they too far to the left or to the right of our field of view. 

Conclusion 

To end on a more joyful note, let us recall the words of the familiar hymn, Amazing Grace.  This hymn was written by John Newton, a former slave trader, who finally saw the light and abandoned his sinful ways.  The lines “I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see,” ring particularly true for those who Jesus has healed of blindness: the Bartimaeus, the disciples and us as well.   

And since yours and my life have been touched by Jesus, we can also sing the words: “I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see.”  And then like Bartimaeus did after being healed, we too can follow the Lord faithfully.