30th Sunday Ordinary Time - Year B

“God has not called me to be successful.  He has called me to be faithful” (Mother Teresa).  This inspirational quote was printed on a memento when Mother Teresa died on September 5th 1997.  May her mediation give  us sight and  insight in all our life situations.

Today’s gospel (Mk. 10:46-52) brings before us Bartimaeus, a blind man, so as to make us aware of our blindness.  Jesus asked of Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” With no hesitation whatsoever, the reply came back, “I want to see”.  This blind man challenges us to take our place beside him and make his request our own; “I want to see!”.

Some may be tempted to advise, “Be careful what you wish (pray) for”.  When believers open themselves in faith to the power of God, new sight and insight will surely come – and so also will come responsibilities and challenges, all of which will make demands on our time and talent and treasure.  Therefore, real courage is needed to allow the prayer of Bartimaeus to find its voice in our lives: “I want to see!”.

In an excellent essay on the experience of Bartimaeus William J. Bausch suggests that those who have both daring and courage to pray, “I want to see”, should be prepared to see three things.  First, we would want to see that the most important thing in life is relationships.  Many of us sacrifice our relationships for careers, jobs, entertainment, power, success and the like.  We don’t spend time together; we don’t eat together… and for what?

Another sight or insight that might be granted us when we pray, “I want to see”, is the ability to recognize those we may otherwise have “overlooked”: e.g., the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden, etc.  We may have deemed it easier not to see a problem that needs attention, e.g., gambling, drugs, alcohol, sex addiction, etc.

A third realm of sight and insight that might come into clearer focus if we pray, sincerely, “I want to see” is the manner in which God’s love can and should be perceived in our lives.  God’s love can be evidenced in the kindness of strangers, in the support of family and friends, in the beauties and wonders of the universe. For those who would see, the manifestation of God are everywhere, in everyone, in  everything, in you, in me.