Not my Faithfulness, but God’s Mercy and Fidelity: God calls me to be a Christian!
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52
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, anyone who implores God’s mercy receives it. 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; the crowd harasses Bartimaeus to shut up, but he doesn’t; finally comes the good news from Jesus – “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 all human needs of God’s help.
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 we sinners, and that we will sin again after the redemption his death offers me, but he died for us 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 neither our my faithfulness nor sinlessness, but God’s mercy and fidelity that makes who we are – Christians and God’s children!
As Christians, therefore, let us show, in my lives, a dogged faith like that of Bartimaeus against all who shout down our faith; when our 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?