Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time year B, Oct. 21, 2018

Bartimaeus, the poor blind beggar in Mk 10:46-52, was in need – he wanted to see! One day the opportunity presented itself, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and Bartimaeus seized the moment. He cried out “Jesus son of David have mercy on me.” The bible said: “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out the more, “Son of David have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said call him, and the people said to him “Take heart; rise, he is calling you, and throwing off his cloak he sprang up and came to Jesus. Bartimaeus knew what he wanted and he went for it abandoning every other thing else. Here he represents the soul of all the afflicted who cry to God daily from their hearts. And instead of the people around them to help them get to Jesus or draw the attention of Jesus, they rather rebuke them and urge them to keep quiet. That's quite disheartening. And yet they are those who encourage and consoles, those that told Bartimaeus, take heart He is calling you. The question then is which of this group can we be identify with? Bartimaeus tells us today not to allow negative voices around to deter us from reaching our life goals; from seeking the Lord. He identified his infirmity and with strong faith and inner courage asked the Lord that he may see. What is yours? We may not be physically blind like Bartimaeus, but we might be spiritually blind by not seeing how negatively we influence others; through our words and actions. How we offend others in our relationships. And how we even discourage people from reaching out to God. We might not be seeing how we are resisting self-growth, by our refusal to accept healthy feedbacks from our parents, spouses, friends, colleagues and family members. We might not even be seeing how we are neglecting our job and family responsibilities. We pray with Bartimaeus today that God would help us to see the areas of our lives where we really need his mercy and total restoration. Peace be with you!