Christ healing the Blind Man, Eustache Le Sueur
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Readings
(New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Readings
(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel
Mark 10:46-52 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great
multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the
roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out
and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked
him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of
David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is
calling you." And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus.
And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the
blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight." And Jesus
said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And
immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
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He and the others
were astonished when the man shared that this was one of his favourite passages
in the gospels. Why? Because Jesus asked Bartimaeus, What do you want me to do for you? The blind parishioner went on to
say that he was quite happy as he was. He had his own apartment and he knew his
way around. But if the Lord were to ask him directly, What do you want me to do for you? He would tell him that there
were parts of his life where he would like Jesus to shed his light, even though
he would hesitate to ask him to do so.
Probably the blind Japanese
man had experienced people, with every good intention, wanting to help him when
he needed no help. On a pilgrimage to Lourdes in Easter Week 1991 with a group
of persons with physical disabilities I shared a room with our leader, Joe,
able-bodied, like myself, and Tony and Tom who weren’t. Both needed help in
some very personal matters. However, I learned very quickly from Tom not to do
something for him when he could do it himself. That was a very good lesson for
me.
Jesus didn’t presume
that Bartimaeus wanted his sight back. He asked him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man, who had shouted Jesus, Son of David, a title indicating
he was the Messiah, answered, Master, let
me receive my sight.
Do I allow Jesus to
ask me, What do you want me to do for
you? And if I allow him do I have the faith of Bartimaeus to tell him what
I want him to do for me? Jesus responded to the faith of the blind man: Go your way; your faith has made you well.
And the blind beggar’s response to this was a further expression of his faith: And immediately he received his sight and
followed him on the way.
On 11 October in his
homily at the Mass marking the opening of the Year of Faith and the 5oth
anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council Pope Benedict said, The Year of Faith which we launch today is linked
harmoniously with the Church’s whole path over the last fifty years: from the
Council, through the Magisterium of the Servant of God Paul VI, who proclaimed
a Year of Faith in 1967, up to the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, with which
Blessed John Paul II re-proposed to all humanity Jesus Christ as the one
Saviour, yesterday, today and forever. Between these two Popes, Paul VI and
John Paul II, there was a deep and profound convergence, precisely upon Christ
as the centre of the cosmos and of history, and upon the apostolic eagerness to
announce him to the world. Jesus is the centre of the Christian faith. The
Christian believes in God whose face was revealed by Jesus Christ. He is the
fulfilment of the Scriptures and their definitive interpreter. Jesus Christ is
not only the object of the faith but, as it says in the Letter to the Hebrews,
he is “the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith” (12:2).
When I was in secondary school we studied some of the poetry of John Milton, most of which I disliked. But his sonnet On His Blindness was an exception.
Fr John Burger is an American Columban who has just finished six years as a member of the Columban General Council. He spent the early years of his priesthood in Japan and tells a wonderful story about a blind man who was a member of a prayer group in a parish where he served. Each week the group met to share on the following Sunday’s gospel and to pray. Father John was a little nervous when this Sunday’s gospel came up, wondering how his blind friend would respond.
He and the others
were astonished when the man shared that this was one of his favourite passages
in the gospels. Why? Because Jesus asked Bartimaeus, What do you want me to do for you? The blind parishioner went on to
say that he was quite happy as he was. He had his own apartment and he knew his
way around. But if the Lord were to ask him directly, What do you want me to do for you? He would tell him that there
were parts of his life where he would like Jesus to shed his light, even though
he would hesitate to ask him to do so.
Probably the blind Japanese
man had experienced people, with every good intention, wanting to help him when
he needed no help. On a pilgrimage to Lourdes in Easter Week 1991 with a group
of persons with physical disabilities I shared a room with our leader, Joe,
able-bodied, like myself, and Tony and Tom who weren’t. Both needed help in
some very personal matters. However, I learned very quickly from Tom not to do
something for him when he could do it himself. That was a very good lesson for
me.
Jesus didn’t presume
that Bartimaeus wanted his sight back. He asked him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man, who had shouted Jesus, Son of David, a title indicating
he was the Messiah, answered, Master, let
me receive my sight.
Do I allow Jesus to
ask me, What do you want me to do for
you? And if I allow him do I have the faith of Bartimaeus to tell him what
I want him to do for me? Jesus responded to the faith of the blind man: Go your way; your faith has made you well.
And the blind beggar’s response to this was a further expression of his faith: And immediately he received his sight and
followed him on the way.
On 11 October in his
homily at the Mass marking the opening of the Year of Faith and the 5oth
anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council Pope Benedict said, The Year of Faith which we launch today is linked
harmoniously with the Church’s whole path over the last fifty years: from the
Council, through the Magisterium of the Servant of God Paul VI, who proclaimed
a Year of Faith in 1967, up to the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, with which
Blessed John Paul II re-proposed to all humanity Jesus Christ as the one
Saviour, yesterday, today and forever. Between these two Popes, Paul VI and
John Paul II, there was a deep and profound convergence, precisely upon Christ
as the centre of the cosmos and of history, and upon the apostolic eagerness to
announce him to the world. Jesus is the centre of the Christian faith. The
Christian believes in God whose face was revealed by Jesus Christ. He is the
fulfilment of the Scriptures and their definitive interpreter. Jesus Christ is
not only the object of the faith but, as it says in the Letter to the Hebrews,
he is “the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith” (12:2).
Bartimaeus seemed to have grasped something of this, calling Jesus by a Messianic title, Son of David, putting his faith in him and following him on the way.
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Father Cyril Axelrod CSsR is the only deaf-blind priest in the world. He was born profoundly deaf
but became blind more than ten years ago from Usher Syndrome. He ministers to people who are deafblind and to people who are deaf. You can
read about him here. In this video Father Cyril speaks to seminarians.
When I was in secondary school we studied some of the poetry of John Milton, most of which I disliked. But his sonnet On His Blindness was an exception.
+++
Bernadette Goulding of Rachel's Vineyard Ireland with Sr Maria Forrestal FMM, an Irish Sister based in the Faroes. Bernadette was speaking about Rachel's Vineyard during a visit two years ago.
Please pray for the Rachel’s Vineyard retreat this weekend in the FaroeIslands, where I worked in the summer of 2000. It is an outreach of Rachel’s Vineyard Ireland.
The carving of Our Lady of Kirkjubøur is a copy of the original carving
which is to be found on one of the Kirkjubøur benches,
and currently on display in the National Museum.
This carving is the handwork of parishioner, Ole Jacob Nielsen,
and is carved in Faroese wood.
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