From: Mark 10:46-52
The Blind Man of Jericho
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Commentary:
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 beau-
tiful 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 pra-
ying’ (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 Bar-
timaeus, 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 super-
fluous....
“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, be-
gins 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 some-
thing of me, though I myself did not know what it was, I made up my own aspira-
tions: ‘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’, ‘Mas-
ter, that I may see,’ moved me to beseech Christ again and again, ‘Lord, what-
ever it is that You wish, let it be done.’
“Pray with me now to our Lord: ‘doce me facere voluntatem tuam, quia Deus me-
us es tu” (Psalm 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, be-
ing 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.” Fol-
lowing 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” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 195-198).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | Jeremiah 31:7-9 © |
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| Psalm | Psalm 125:1-6 © |
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| Second reading | Hebrews 5:1-6 © |
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| Gospel Acclamation | Jn8:12 |
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| Or | cf.2Tim1:10 |
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| Gospel | Mark 10:46-52 © |
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