Dear Friends,
Jesus asked the same question in last week’s Gospel as He
does today, “What do you want me to do for you?” Last weekend, Jesus directed
that question to James and John. It was clear they wanted power and glory for
themselves. They didn’t want to see, grasp, understand, absorb the mission,
mystery and message of Jesus. They wanted control for very selfish reasons, and
Jesus denied them their wish.
This week, as Jesus left Jericho to go up to Jerusalem, Bartimaeus
clamored for attention, shouting until he was heard. The blind man, who was an
embarrassment for the crowd, was suddenly urged forward by that same crowd because
Jesus had noticed him.
Again, Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?” This
time the answer is very different. “I want to see,” Bartimaeus declared.
More than physical sight, Bt (let’s call him that) wanted to
make sense of his life, to find meaning and purpose and to cease being a beggar.
The Gospel tells us that, as soon as Bt saw, he began to follow Jesus up the
road. The blind beggar had become a disciple – a disciple unlike James and
John. Even in their closeness to Christ, James and John lacked hindsight,
insight and foresight. They had trouble dealing with their blind spots about
Jesus and themselves.
The one thing that Bt knew about himself that the others did
not see in themselves was vulnerability. In this, he was like the people whom
Jeremiah describes in today’s first reading – people in exile, unable to move
at will, without resources to extricate themselves from their captivity.
Vulnerable people seem to remember God’s faithful promise
more easily than people who are sure of their own power, abilities, successes.
They remember and they draw from God’s own promise the courage to go on.
In a world of vulnerability caused by the pandemic, with its
economic stresses, racial and gender tensions, as well as changing societal
values about life and death, that question, “What do you want me to do for
you?” is crucial. Christ continues to ask each of us this question when we
present ourselves as wanting/needing something.
Is the boldness of Bt in us, not only to acknowledge our own
vulnerability, but to know what to ask for and then what to do? Do we really
want to see? To have others see?
Some would say that Bt was lucky. He asked and got his
sight, with all that that implied. We ask, and God seems to say “NO.” But is
the answer really “no sight” or is it “no sight now” or “other sight?”
In our world, with all our vulnerability, will we be curious
enough to ask who is passing by as Christ comes up the road? Will we dare the
crowd which want no part of the challenge? Will we know what to say when Christ
asks us, “What do you want me to do for you?” Will each of us accept the
sight we have been given? Will we follow Christ along the road?
~Sister Joan Sobala
