30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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

Not my Faithfulness, but God’s Mercy and Fidelity: God calls me to be a Christian!

An Irish missionary priest to Nigeria has a very dedicated and faithful catechist (pastoral agent) working with him. In all ramifications of Christian life, the catechist is impeccable except one thing – he has two wives: one named Mercy, the other Grace. The priest decides to have a conversation with his catechist; after talking to his catechist about the Christian imperative to be monogamous, his catechist promises to straighten out that aspect of his Christian life. One faithful day, the catechist comes with both wives (Mercy and Grace) to see Father (the priest). Once in Father’s office, he says to him: I am now ready for a Christian marriage! Father says, you cannot marry both women in church, only one. The catechist says, in reply: Father, have Mercy and give me Grace!

Our first reading today shows us some attributes of God, especially Mercy: our God is a God who is ever faithful in showing mercy! Whatever our conception of justice may be, the “justice” of God is conspicuously absent from today’s readings, but God’s “mercy” is ubiquitous. Biblically speaking, all oppressed persons are a sure target of God’s mercy and compassion: from captivity in Egypt, God sets Israel free (Exodus 12-15); from exile in Babylon, Jeremiah prophesies today that God will bring the Jews home: the lame, blind, young and old. Why does God bring them back? He does that because they asked him to: “save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel” ( Jeremiah 31:7). Although the Jews went into Babylon because of their sins, God’s mercy, in the guise of forgiveness, brings them home. So, God’s mercy comes to us as his forgiveness of our sins as well as restoration, when we ask for his help.

Israel is not the only case of God’s mercy, when God is implored to show mercy. Today’s gospel provides another example of a God who listens to pleas for mercy: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47), says Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. Jesus appears not to listen to Bartimaeus’ plea; Bartimaeus was harassed to shut up, but doesn’t; finally comes the good news – “Go; your faith has made you well [from blindness]” (Mark 10:52). The persistence of Bartimaeus is a sign of his undaunted faith, which Jesus requires for intervention. Bartimaeus calls Jesus by his family name – “son of David,” showing a superior knowledge of Jesus over those with physical sight! Since Bartimaeus’ request to Jesus is that “Let me see again,” that indicates someone who has done his homework about Jesus’ identity before his blindness: knowledge is not a bad thing after all, it strengthens our convictions/faith!

An aspect of our individual and collective lives, where knowledge thereof is not lacking, is that we are all sinners, pure and simple. If the Babylonian exile is as a result of the sins of the Jews, restoration comes to them as a sign of God’s mercy, experienced as forgiveness. If Bartimaeus used to see before his blindness, he regains his sight on account of God’s mercy. Surely, the mercy of God is not limited to the restoration of sight and return from exile, it also extends to the service of God, in all capacities.

Our second reading today proves that being a priest, Christian, name it, accrues to human beings out of God’s mercy: God does not choose the qualified, but qualifies the chosen, as the saying goes. God, in Jesus Christ, dies on the cross, knowing that I am a sinner, and that I will sin again after the redemption his death offers me, but he died for me anyway! Indeed, if we talk about God’s mercy this Sunday, it is an opportunity to put an end to human arrogance; instead, everything human beings have and are are pure gifts of God called GRACE. Consequently, let us all pray, as in our story above: Lord have mercy and give us grace! For it is not my faithfulness and sinlessness, but God’s mercy and fidelity that makes me who I am – a Christian!

As a Christian, therefore, let me show, in my life, a dogged faith like that of Bartimaeus against all who shout down my faith; when my prayers seem unanswered, to remember that God answers in his own time!

                                                         Assignment for the Week

Could you find some quite time to go visit Jesus in the blessed sacrament this week?

An Exegetical Homily on the Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (October 25, 2015)

Step I: What does the Text Say?

Since we have a drama of some sorts before us, let us use a narrative exegesis to explain today’s gospel. Our schema will be divided into three: Actors, actions and reactions.

Step II: What does the Text Mean?

In order to understand our gospel text, we need to answer three simple questions:

1. What: What happens in the Text? Jesus heals a blind man, who had his sight before becoming blind: he was not born blind like the man in John 9.
2. How: how was Bartimaeus healed? Through a word of command: “Go; your faith has made you well”

3: Who: who healed Bartimaeus? Jesus, Son of David, healed Bartimaeus.

Summary: Jesus heals Bartimaeus, who asks him to have mercy upon him, because of his (Bartimaeus’) faith.

Step III: Exegesis – Undaunted Faith leads to Healing

Points for homily:

1. Many people journey with Jesus in today’s gospel: Jesus, disciples and crowd (Mark 10:46). It is the same in our world today, many people claim to be Christians and many go to Church in search of Jesus.
2. The life of a Christian may meet with obstacles, just like Bartimaeus’ who lost his sight and begs by the roadside (Mark 10:47).
3. God’s salvation comes to meet us, in whatever circumstance of life we find ourselves, an example is Bartimaeus; Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside begging, hears Jesus passing by. Good enough, Bartimaeus has faith, so he calls out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47).
4. It is not enough to have faith, a Christian’s faith often gets tested: the crowds shout Bartimaeus down, but because of his solid faith, he does not give up; instead, he shouts all the louder (Mark 10:48)! For you and me, it may be a bad news from the doctor that tests our faith; maybe we are ditched by friends or left behind in poverty, oppressed by the rich and the powerful, etc. Those who cause us pain, like those shouting down Bartimaeus, may be fellow Christians. Can our faith weather the storm like Bartimaeus’?
5. When we are at our wits’ end, our little efforts yield great results: like Bartimaeus, we hear Jesus calling for us; sometimes, the same people who constitute obstacles to our faith lend helping hands to us: the crowd says to Bartimaeus, “take heart; get up, he is calling you.” (Mark 10:49). Not all the followers of Jesus and all Church goers are a bunch of hypocrites – just as some followers of Jesus today shout down Bartimaeus and others nudge him on; we have, among Christians, the good, the bad and the ugly – what we have is a Church of saints and sinners.
6. A bitter-sweet part of the Christian life is freedom of choice: “What do you want me to do for you”? Jesus asks Bartimaeus, and he responds: “My teacher, let me see again” (Mark 10:51). Be careful what you wish for because you may get it: Bartimaeus got what he wanted. Jesus says to him: “Go; your faith has made you well;” immediately, Bartimaeus becomes a follower of Jesus – a Christian (Mark 10:52). To have his sight back means he could not count anymore on people’s charity, he has to work. To become a Christian is to choose to walk the walk and not just cheap talk. Others’ criticisms of our faith is not an excuse for quitting. Jesus’ silence and delays are not denials or refusals. The Church will always be home to the good, the bad and the ugly; after all, we are all sinners! However, like the crowd shouting Bartimaeus down, and he standing his ground, let us focus on Jesus and remain untrammelled by the actions of the crowd, for they are not in short supply today – when the going gets tough, the tough gets going, says an American expression. May our faith toughen us in our journey through life! Amen!