Mark 10:47. As he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he began to cry out loudly: "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!"
Many ordered him to be silent, but he shouted even louder: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!” And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, get up, he is calling you!"
He threw off his cloak, jumped up and went to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man answered Him, "Rabbuni, that I may see." Jesus replied, "Go, your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Him along the road.
Who is the blind beggar? Nobody in particular. Someone who not only cannot be seen, but is avoided and not noticed. Someone whose cry is muffled even by those who follow Jesus. And such a person is not only heard and noticed, but also healed and, most importantly, enabled to follow Christ.
Nothing is as important as the diagnosis of faith. Without it, no one has a chance to see through. Faith allowed him to see clearly, because faith is seeing. I am writing these words as a priest, wishing to remember deeply: I am to seek faith and build up those I meet with faith.
How to inspire faith? There is only one way: faith awakens from listening to God's words!
I read with bated breath in the council's decree: "The priest's ministry begins with the proclamation of the Gospel," although the pinnacle is to lead someone to full participation in Eucharistic union with Jesus.
And further: "The People of God is united by the word of the living God, which must absolutely be demanded from the mouths of priests!" The absolute requirement addressed to priests to preach the Gospel, better or worse, eloquently or clumsily, always and everywhere, makes a great impression on me.
Otherwise, many Bartimaeans will continue to sit in the wilderness, not knowing what to expect from Christ. I would rather be among those priests who shout: "Be of good cheer, get up, he is calling you!" than among those who urged him to be silent.
In the same conciliar document I read with no less impression about priests who are debtors to all; debtors obliged to share the truth of the Gospel. The Latin text of the document uses the word DEBITORES at this point! Do we know what a bank overdraft is?
Well, every priest is in a spiritual debt to the Church and cannot casually say an occasional sermon laced with poetry and politics. He must repay the debt of God's word, which awakens hope and faith in the love of Jesus, to people who, not only widows, contribute to the maintenance of the priesthood.
Looking at the story about Bartimaeus' healing, we may get the false impression that Jesus did not notice him, even though he had great eyesight, while Bartimaeus, although he was blind, saw Jesus. Does God not care about all the Bartimaeans? Had he missed them?
In the 23rd Psalm, a pastoral and therefore priestly one, at the very end we read: "Goodness and grace will follow me." Well, the Hebrew text used the word RADAF here, which is translated as determined pursuit, pursuit, and most often as persecution.
Perhaps it seemed strange to some translators that mercy could persecute a person, but God is not indifferent to our fate and He is constantly chasing the sinner and the one blinded by this world. It is He who persecutes us with inspirations so that we cry out to Him: Son of David, have mercy on me!
Many ordered him to be silent, but he shouted even louder: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!” And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, get up, he is calling you!"
He threw off his cloak, jumped up and went to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man answered Him, "Rabbuni, that I may see." Jesus replied, "Go, your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Him along the road.
Who is the blind beggar? Nobody in particular. Someone who not only cannot be seen, but is avoided and not noticed. Someone whose cry is muffled even by those who follow Jesus. And such a person is not only heard and noticed, but also healed and, most importantly, enabled to follow Christ.
Nothing is as important as the diagnosis of faith. Without it, no one has a chance to see through. Faith allowed him to see clearly, because faith is seeing. I am writing these words as a priest, wishing to remember deeply: I am to seek faith and build up those I meet with faith.
How to inspire faith? There is only one way: faith awakens from listening to God's words!
I read with bated breath in the council's decree: "The priest's ministry begins with the proclamation of the Gospel," although the pinnacle is to lead someone to full participation in Eucharistic union with Jesus.
And further: "The People of God is united by the word of the living God, which must absolutely be demanded from the mouths of priests!" The absolute requirement addressed to priests to preach the Gospel, better or worse, eloquently or clumsily, always and everywhere, makes a great impression on me.
Otherwise, many Bartimaeans will continue to sit in the wilderness, not knowing what to expect from Christ. I would rather be among those priests who shout: "Be of good cheer, get up, he is calling you!" than among those who urged him to be silent.
In the same conciliar document I read with no less impression about priests who are debtors to all; debtors obliged to share the truth of the Gospel. The Latin text of the document uses the word DEBITORES at this point! Do we know what a bank overdraft is?
Well, every priest is in a spiritual debt to the Church and cannot casually say an occasional sermon laced with poetry and politics. He must repay the debt of God's word, which awakens hope and faith in the love of Jesus, to people who, not only widows, contribute to the maintenance of the priesthood.
Looking at the story about Bartimaeus' healing, we may get the false impression that Jesus did not notice him, even though he had great eyesight, while Bartimaeus, although he was blind, saw Jesus. Does God not care about all the Bartimaeans? Had he missed them?
In the 23rd Psalm, a pastoral and therefore priestly one, at the very end we read: "Goodness and grace will follow me." Well, the Hebrew text used the word RADAF here, which is translated as determined pursuit, pursuit, and most often as persecution.
Perhaps it seemed strange to some translators that mercy could persecute a person, but God is not indifferent to our fate and He is constantly chasing the sinner and the one blinded by this world. It is He who persecutes us with inspirations so that we cry out to Him: Son of David, have mercy on me!
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