A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 48)
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – October 26, 2003
“Master, I Want To See”
BIBLE READINGS
I met Philip, a ten-year old boy suffering from a malignant brain tumor, at our convent in Cebu Island in the Philippines, in 1977, when I was a very young Sister. Because of his malady, Philip became blind and his growth was stunted. He had the body of a six-year old, but his face was incredibly radiant and beautiful. He astounded me by his talent in playing the organ and the guitar. After listening with joy to his improvised concerto, I accompanied Philip to the refectory, located on the second floor of our convent. I held his hand as we went up the flight of steep stairs. When we reached the top, he asked me, “How many steps are there in these stairs?” I had to confess with embarrassment that I never counted them. Philip gamely told me how many steps there were. The Sisters offered Philip fruit juice and cookies, and the usual children’s treats. He gently refused explaining that he needed to follow a prescribed diet. Philip knew that he would not live very long, but there was no hint of fear or regret in him. His sightless eyes seemed to have more capacity for seeing than our own. The lovable Philip could see beyond and was full of trust in the loving God who would soon bring him to heaven. As I bid him goodbye, I was praying deep in my heart, “Lord, help me to see the way Philip sees!” The blind little boy who made me realize that I needed “to see” and inspired me to pray for spiritual sight died a few years later. I know for certain that Philip is in heaven, “seeing” God face to face.
The need for true spiritual sight is the subject of this Sunday’s Gospel reading, which narrates the healing of the blind beggar Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-51). The Gospel passage begins with an interesting geographical reference and a touch of local color: “As Jesus was leaving Jericho, with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging” (Mk 10:46). The main road to Jerusalem ran right through Jericho, which is 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem and 5 miles west of the Jordan River. The messianic journey of Jesus that began in Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8:27-30) was reaching its destination: Jerusalem. The departure of Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, from Jericho evokes the movement of a large group of pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover. The crowd that was moving towards Jerusalem, the place of sacrifice, did not, however, comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ paschal destiny. The disciples and the crowd were figuratively “blind” with regards to the destiny of this remarkable man who had just avowed: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). Indeed, it was more convenient to see him as a wonderful miracle worker, a powerful political ruler and a generous breadbasket king. In comparison to the blind beggar Bartimaeus, they seemed to be fortunate for they could see with their physical eyes. But there is a deeper reality than physical sight. The remark of Anthony Bloom, a physician who became Metropolitan and Patriarch of Moscow in 1965, is insightful: “If only we knew that we were blind, how eagerly would we seek healing … But the tragedy is that we do not realize our blindness … Blinded by the world of things we forget that it does not match the depth of which man is capable … To be aware only of the tangible world is to be on the outside of the fullness of knowledge, outside the experience of the total reality which is the world in God and God at the heart of the world. The blind man, Bartimaeus, was painfully aware of this because, owing to his physical blindness, the visible world escaped him. He could cry out to the Lord in total despair.”
Mark portrays Bartimaeus as sitting by the roadside begging. With undaunted hope, the blind beggar resolutely cried out his invocation, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:47). Ignoring the rebuke of the many unsympathetic people who were trying to silence him, he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:48). Bartimaeus’ use of the expression “Son of David” is the first public application of that messianic title to Jesus. The title “Son of David” designates Jesus as the heir of the promise made to David through Nathan (cf. II Sam 7:12-16). The biblical scholar Philip Van Linden remarks: “The title Bartimaeus gives Jesus, ‘Son of David,’ indicates that he, a blind beggar, actually sees who Jesus is more clearly than the disciples and crowd who have been with him all along!”
Jesus responded with compassion to Bartimaeus. Hearing his vigorous plea and witnessing his pitiful plight by the road of Jericho, Jesus stopped and ordered, “Call him” (Mk 10:49). Mark narrates that the crowd became involved in the compassionate act of Jesus and became an instrument of the divine call. They told the blind man to take courage, get up, and meet Jesus who was calling for him. Bartimaeus reacted with alacrity. According to Mark’s account: “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus” (Mk 10:50). The “cloak” that he threw may have been used formerly to receive the people’s alms. Indeed, the many references to garments in Mark’s Gospel suggest that Bartimaeus was leaving behind the “old order” and embracing a new life.
When the blind beggar came up, Jesus’ question to him, “What do you want we to do for you?” echoed the earlier question he addressed to James and John. The sons of Zebedee were bent on appropriating for themselves a glorious place in the messianic kingdom (cf. Mk 10:35-40). Whereas the appeal of James and John was tainted with an ambitious streak, the petition of the blind man was coming from a humble heart that puts its trust in Jesus. The question became an occasion for Bartimaeus to profess his faith in the power of Jesus to heal. The blind man addressed him with sure hope and confident trust: “Master, I want to see” (Mk 10:51). Bartimaeus is the one and only person in Mark’s Gospel who calls Jesus “Master”. Jesus is veritably the Master who enkindles in him the light of faith. The words of Jesus were magnanimous: “Go your way; your faith has saved you” (Mk 10:52). Jesus did not need to touch Bartimaeus, whose prayer and actions revealed deep faith. Philip Van Linden remarks: “Jesus is his Master! It is just such profound trust in Jesus that Mark wants to elicit from the Christian recipients of his Gospel.”
The Gospel reading of this Sunday ends with a joyful note of healing and a decisive movement of discipleship: “Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way” (Mk 10:52). The one who used to sit by the roadside or “the way” was healed by Jesus and made a radical choice to follow him on the way of discipleship. According to Virgil Howard and David Peabody, “Bartimaeus is intended to serve as an example of a person with ‘sight’ and such a person follows Jesus into his passion.” His response to Jesus’ command, “Go your way” was to embrace the way of the Divine Master, a way that leads from Jericho to Jerusalem, and ultimately – the way of the Cross. His response challenges the community of Christian believers today.
Do we recognize and identify the blindness within us that needs to be healed? Do we turn to Jesus and say, “Master, I want to see” (Mk 10:51)?
In our experience of blindness and hopelessness, do we have the courage and the faith to cry out with Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:47)?
When Jesus sees us by the wayside and calls us to himself, what is our response? Do we throw aside the cloak of our old habits, get up, and run to meet him? Do we follow him on the way?
Leader: Lord Jesus, we are blind. We are blinded by the visible, which prevents us from grasping the invisible.
Assembly: Master, I want to see! Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!
Leader: Lord Jesus, we close our eyes to our paschal destiny and the radical demands of your discipleship. We acknowledge our blindness. We turn to you for inner healing and for the light of faith.
Assembly: Master, I want to see! Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!
Leader: Lord Jesus, you are good and compassionate. You are the healer of all our infirmities. You are our Master, the kindly Light to lead us on the way from Jericho to Jerusalem, to the saving way of the Cross. Enlighten the eyes of our faith.
Assembly: Master, I want to see! Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Master, I want to see.” (Mk 10:51)
Close you eyes for 10 minutes. Do not sleep, but try to replicate the experience of the blind. Write a journal about this vicarious experience of blindness. Talk to God about this experience.
Pray in thanksgiving for the many good people who endeavor to relieve the painful and difficult situations of the vision-impaired. Offer some help to various institutions for the blind.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM