Oct 27 Sun
How can I get rid of my petty selfishness?
Jesus left Jericho followed by his disciples, and a sizable crowd. At the city gate, Bartimaeus stood. Perhaps because he was blind, Bartimaeus had learned to depend on his voice to get alms. Maybe he had learned to make his voice cut through the tumult of any crowd. At any rate, people told him to shut up.
“Many told him to be silent, as they told you to be silent when you sensed Jesus passing by, when you heard the noble, clear sound of those following our Lord in this army. Your heart started to pound, and you began to cry out; you felt a deep restlessness. And your friends, your comfort, and your surroundings all shouted out: Keep quiet, don't cry out! Why bother calling Jesus? Leave him alone. Bartimaeus did not pay attention, and cried out even louder: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
He threw aside his cloak. Why would a blind man cast his cloak aside? It is out of character. A blind man would have learned early on how easy it would be to lose something. Did he know that his cloak would slow him down if he got tangled up in it? Throwing his cloak aside reinforces that he began his encounter with Jesus with faith because he wanted to get to Our Lord as quickly as he could. Whatever Jesus could do for him will be worth much more than his cloak.
In this way, he is like the man in the parable who finds a treasure buried in a field or in the parable of the jeweler who found a pearl of great price. Both put all their resources toward gaining their respective treasures.
After Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight, the Lord said “Go on your way.” Bartimaeus did go on his way. He “followed him on the way.” Jesus’ Way became Bartimaeus’ way. Christ is our way too.
Faith is always a gift of God. Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God, and believe all that He has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief because He is Truth itself.
First, God offers us the gift of faith, and then, with his help, we assent to what he proposes us to believe.
We can do so in the confidence that God can neither deceive nor be deceived.
But faith is not just mental assent. By faith man freely commits his entire self to God. For this reason, the believer seeks to know and do God’s will.
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it . . .
God does not call us just once. My friend, remember that our Lord calls us many other times. "Get up," He tells us. Rise up from your wretchedness, your comfort, your petty selfishness, your trifling problems. Detach yourself from the earth, where everything is flat and shapeless. Acquire agility, weight, solidity, supernatural outlook. Give yourself. Get up, he is calling you.
Video: