30th Week in Ordinary Time (B) : Sunday, 27th October 2024

The Gospel of Mark places us at the scene where the blind man Bartimaeus is seeking help but kept being silenced by the people. Did they not have compassion for Bartimaeus? Or did they feel that he was not worthy of Jesus’ attention?

All Bartimaeus wanted was to be able to see again, thus enabling him to live a normal life like everyone else. However, even this basic need is being denied to him. They hindered him from receiving prophet Jeremiah’s exhortations, “rejoice the Lord will bring the blind and the lame to the streams of living water.” For Christ the High Priest will gently deal with  those who need direction (Hb 5:2). Jesus is actually fulfilling the words of the Prophets.

However, the crowd and the disciples did not understand His mission. In this healing drama, they witnessed His boundless compassion and attention to anyone who had faith in him. Very often, we forget that faith is not exclusive. Granted there are certain things that cannot be simply given away like the Sacraments. Access into the church to pray, however, should not be exclusive. It is only through these instances that people can encounter Jesus. There should be no hindrance on our part to make room for others to encounter Jesus. God’s healing power is available to anyone, we should not deny the power of this love to people who are crying out for help.

Dear Lord, empower us to be promoters of your compassion and attentive love.