On the Road to Jerusalem, the Blind Man's Cry

Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct 25, 2015

Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Tucson, AZ

“Go your way; your faith has saved you."

In today’s Gospel passage (Mark 10:46-52), we focus on the healing power of faith. We learn of  Bartimaeus, who was a blind beggar. He was one of the many beggars who would sit on the road to Jerusalem. 

As our Lord draws near, Bartimaeus immediately turns to Jesus. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Our Lord stops and heals the man.

In today’s Gospel, we are invited to reflect on the power of faith. 

Bartimaeus was in a desperate situation. He was determined to get Jesus’ attention, even when those around him told him to be quiet. And then Our Lord heals Bartimaeus and says to him, “Your faith has saved you.” 

My brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel calls us to have the same attitude as Bartimeaus. Although most persons are not physically blind, all of us are blinded by sin. We all need healing.

Yet, today’s story reminds us that if we want to be healed it takes faith on our part. In fact, if we look at the healing Our Lord performed that are  recorded in the Gospels, we can see that

many occurred because of the faith of those  healed. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew and in Luke we hear about the woman suffering from hemorrhages who touches the cloak of Jesus. She says to herself, “If only I can touch His cloak, I shall be cured.” When Jesus sees her faith He heals her and says, “Courage daughter, your faith has saved you." (Matthew 9:22).” 

In another example, Jesus heals two blind men in the Gospel of Matthew (9:29). Jesus asks them if they believe He could heal them. They say yes and Jesus touches their eyes and says, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 

Jesus also heals the centurion’s slave in the Gospel of Luke.  He tells the centurion, “I tell you, not even in Israel, have I found such faith." (Luke 7:9). 

These are only a few examples where Our Lord heals a person because of their strong faith. If we want to be healed of our struggles, if we want to attain eternal life, we too must come to Our Lord in faith.

Yet, faith requires humility. As Bartimaeus cried out to Our Lord for pity, we too must cry out. We must acknowledge our need for the Lord. 

The more we approach with humility, the more Christ will open our eyes and our hearts to His grace. He reveals to us our sins. He reveals to us our disordered desires, and then He is able to bring us healing and salvation. We take courage that Jesus is the Divine Healer! 

Faith also requires perseverance. When Bartimaeus heard that Our Lord was near, he would not give up. He cried out in desperation. Even while being rebuked by those around him, Bartimaeus, cried out to Our Lord all the more. 

And then, when Bartimaeus realized that Jesus was calling him, he threw off his cloak and sprang up to meet Jesus. In other words, he threw aside everything he had so that he could come to Jesus! 

So it is with us. If we want healing in our lives, if we want to be saved from our sins, then we too must humble ourselves. We too must persevere in our faith and throw aside anything that prevents us from becoming all who God calls us to be.

I must say that I am very encouraged by the humility and perseverance of the many faithful here at Saints Peter and Paul. So many of you are extremely devoted to the sacrament of confession! 

Please, I encourage you, keep on coming to confession, no matter how much you may

wear us priests out! No matter how much we fall, we must continue to persevere in faith! We must continue to cry out to Our Lord with a humble and contrite heart saying, "Jesus,  Son of David, have pity on me.”

Jesus is the Divine Healer. He has come into our world to heal us and save us from our sins. Let us persevere in our faith with humility so that we can receive the saving power of God and attain eternal life. For it is our faith that will save us! Amen!

Did you enjoy this post? There are many more sermons by Fr. John Paul Shea on this blog. You may like this one:

Repentence for the Forgiveness of Sins