DESIRE TO SEE.
October 27, 2024.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – B.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
A Swahili proverb says: “What the heart desires is medicine
to it.” A Romanian proverb adds: “We soon believe what we desire.”
Every one of us has his or her personal needs. There are
things we all thirst for, and for those thirsts, we can brave all difficulties,
undertake all challenges, and allow nothing to stop us until we get what we
want.
One truth we can not deny is that we all are children of
Adam, and so we all thirst for three things: Possessions, Power, and Pleasures.
Some people make it worse until it becomes evil when they want possession at
all costs, power at all costs, and pleasure at all costs, even if that should
cost the life or liberty of others.
Faith nourishes and sustains our desire, desire of God,
desire to see, and desire of life. Without faith, we travel in unsatisfaction
and towards uncertainties. “Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the
test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be
absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the
Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and
Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus
"the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is
wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." It is in
Christ's Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth "the
immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe".” CCC 272.
The past Sundays, we were confronted with the danger of
possession that when it becomes all that we have and unable to cut away or
detach ourselves from it can make us lose track of our goal, the kingdom of
God, and the life of perfection. Last Sunday, we reflected on what the thirst
for authority or power could lead us to, dissection, oppositions, and divisions
among us. Today's readings open us to reflect indirectly on our third thirst
and how it can drive us: pleasure. We all want to see. This has a positive side
if it opens or leads us to the Lord.
God made us to be with him, to see him and contemplate him
face to face. Situations and happenings in life, oftentimes distract and
disrupt us from that goal. The Lord, however, always passes by and gives us a
new opportunity to see him. One beautiful story, in today's Gospel, is that of
Bartimaeus, with a more beautiful question, “What do you want me to do for
you?”
Last Sunday, we heard quite a similar question from the Lord
to James and John: "What do you wish me to do for you?" They were
thirsting for authority, seeking for position. That was their hearts' desire.
Today, it is to Bartimaeus, a blind man seeking the Lord with strong faith that
Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?” A Nice concordance to tell us
that the way we approach God will open us to his answer. James and John, two
members of the twelve apostles, ask inappropriately and without comprehension;
Bartimaeus asks appropriately and faithfully that he might see again. One
showed faith while the two others were seeking themselves and human interest or
fame.
The story goes that Jesus was traveling, from Jericho to
Jerusalem. A road that will teach us a lot on our following of the Lord, a
journey filled with adventures and happenings. And on this road, a man named
Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus... What does that really mean to us? Apparently,
Bartimaeus is the only name given about anyone Jesus healed. According to
strong concordance, the name Bartimaeus is derived from two Aramaic words -
“BAR” (בַּר) meaning “son (of)” and “TAME'” (טָמֵא) meaning unclean, “defiled”.
So the meaning of the name is “son of the unclean”.
Like Bartimaeus, we all are uncleaned, defiled by our sins,
and in need of God’s mercy: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” So, let us
seek for the chance to see Jesus, and see him in events, happenings, and people
who surround us. Nevertheless, this thirst to see Jesus must not be without
faith. When there is faith, there is no discouragement, no giving up. Faith is
a strength that moves us beyond our human limitations. And faith always leads
to action, the following of Christ, the walking into the steps of the Lord.
There is a kind of blindness in each one of us. That inner
and deep blindness keeps us also lame, unable to move and walk properly. Only
the Lord can cure our blindness and lameness and make us see and walk. And he
can do it only through our faith in him. Like he asked Bartimaeus, the Lord
asks you again today: "What do you want me to do for you?"
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