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Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
Ephraim is my first-born.
R./ The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R./ The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R./ The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R./ The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R./ The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up,
and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.
Have mercy on me.
Dear brothers, peace and good.
Last Sunday we saw how the apostles did not understand anything. The lust for power went against everything Jesus preached. They only saw what they wanted to see. Today, however, we have the testimony of a true believer who understood who he was dealing with. Some seers who saw nothing and a blind man who saw.
The exiles of the first reading saw everything black. In exile, without temple or priests, reduced to a minimal remnant, they are depressed and see no way out. And where the majority sees only the end, the prophet Jeremiah makes them see the situation in a completely different way.
Out of this remnant, seemingly barren, with no future, the Lord will make the best of the people. The material, of course, is not the best: blind and lame, pregnant and in childbirth. No one dares to bet on the success of the journey: you don’t go very far with people like that, you don’t go very fast. Their condition is desperate: they are blind, disoriented, crippled, unable to move, women burdened by pregnancy or in labor. Only a miracle of the Lord can bring a group of people in such conditions to the finish line. He loves all, but the «poor of Yahweh» are especially appealing to Him. With this material, the people of Israel will be reborn. Weeping will turn to joy, for under the protection of the Lord they will return to the land from which they were exiled. As today’s Psalm reminds us, «The Lord is great with us, and we rejoice.
When we feel small because we are small before God, this reading is also addressed to us. As with Israel, our Father cares for us so that His people may grow more and more each day, even if it is not visible to the naked eye, so that these people may return to their Lord. As it was planned from the beginning of time.
We feel this protection in our brother Christ. In Christ, through Him and in Him, we know that God is not far away, we do not live «out of God’s hand. He is not a high priest far away from us, no. He understands us because He is an incarnate being like us, capable of suffering heat and cold, hunger and thirst, joy and pain, equal to us in everything, with our weaknesses – except sin – and capable of sharing our suffering. As a man he could be appointed to this office. Moreover, He did not choose Himself, but the high priesthood was given to Him by the Father, so that with His blood He could redeem our lives and enable us, through faith in Him, to attain eternal life.
And so we come to the Gospel. We are now ten chapters into the text of Mark. Along the way, Jesus makes it clear what the goal of his journey is and sets out the moral requirements that those who want to follow in his footsteps must accept: gratuitous love, unconditional and without limits, the renunciation of goods and all ambition, selfless service to others. But…
But the disciples are still preoccupied with their own things. They are blind to see beyond their own world of interests and ambitions. That is why this Bartimaeus is a true model for the twelve. He confesses him as a son of David, asks him for help, regains his sight and becomes a fervent follower. This encounter with Christ is the first step towards the light. As always, it is not easy. Obstacles must be overcome, in this case Christ’s own companions, who demonstrate their blindness by trying to prevent him from approaching the Lord.
Perhaps the same thing is happening today. We should examine whether we have really understood Jesus, or whether we still lack the light to see the needs of the people around us. For example, do we listen to those who are reeling because they do not see the light, or do we pretend not to hear them? Do we silence them, perhaps because we have other more important things to do? Whoever believes that there is something more important than to stop, to listen, to understand and to help those who want to meet the Lord, even if he perfectly observes all religious practices, is still blind.
We, more or less experienced disciples, can also be among those who do not understand the Lord. We do not understand His silence when we call on Him and He does not seem to hear us. Our requests do not always correspond to what he wants to give us. What we should really ask is that he give us the light and the courage to follow him and to do so until the end. The rest can be ambitions that do not suit us, or personal or collective poverty that we have to accept and reconcile ourselves with in order to be Jesus’ companions on the road.
We should rather be among those who helped the blind man to approach the Master. It is not easy to go to Jesus and we need mediators, facilitators of the encounter. Therefore, we must be attentive. And speak clearly. Whoever wants to meet Christ must know that a comfortable life without problems does not await him. Bartimaeus lets go of his cloak, probably the only thing he owned, and runs away. In other words, in order to see, he has to let go of what bound him to the darkness. And to reexamine attitudes, behaviors, habits, friendships… To live differently, to use his possessions differently, to spend his time differently… To choose between the cloak and the light.
In conclusion, let us wait for Jesus to come again; let us know how to live in reconciliation with the limitations or poverty that we have to endure because of our own human condition. Let us put our hope in Jesus, who knows how to give us the light and the encouragement to be his constant companions on the way. Let us ask him in each Eucharist for the portion of bread that is himself, so that we may be his true followers.
Your brother in faith,
Alejandro Carvajo, C.M.F.We are gathered in the name of Jesus,
of whom the Father said:
"You are my Son,
today I have become your father."
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus
be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
A. Are We Blind?
Let all of us to whom God has given good eyes thank God wholeheartedly for the gift of sight. But today the Lord asks us: Do you see with the eyes of your heart what I am asking of you? Do you see the way I have shown you? Do you see the people I have placed on your way and are you aware of their needs and hungers? Do you see the beauty of the world I created and are you willing to keep it a marvel for you and your children? Let us ask the Lord in this eucharist to open our eyes to God and people.
B. Get Up! Jesus Will Open Your Eyes
Sometimes we feel like blind people groping in the dark or even dazed, sitting disheartened by the side of the road. We don't see where we stand or where we are going, we cannot discern what we have to believe or to do. If only we would turn to Jesus and ask him, "Lord, let me see again!" May he restore our eyesight so that we can follow him on the road he shows us. Let this be our prayer today in this eucharist.
How blind we have often been to God near to us
in our world, in our task, in people.
We seek now the Lord's forgiveness.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, I failed to see
the needs of the people in my family:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord have mercy.
Jesus Christ, the hunger for warmth,
the craving for justice and human dignity
of friends and neighbors I did not notice:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, the desire of people far and near
to know you and to follow you,
even when they were not aware of it,
I did not see and I did not lead them to you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Open our eyes to your love and to people
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Let us pray that the Lord may hear us
and the cries of all who appeal to him
(PAUSE)
Our living God,
you are very near to us in our joys and pains.
Give us the eyes of faith and love to see
the mission you have given us in life
and the courage and grace to carry it out.
Make us also clear-sighted enough to see
the needs of people who cry out their misery
or suffer in silence,
that we may bring them your healing compassion
and lead them to you.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Let us pray to Jesus, who restored the sight of the blind, that with him we may see the needs of our brothers and sisters everywhere. Let us say: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
- Lord, see the eyes of the child that open to life; see the eyes full of hope of those who believe in your future and fill them with your light, we pray: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
- Lord, see the joy in the eyes of those who know how to love; see the eyes full of hatred of those who are frustrated, we pray: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
- Lord, see the sad eyes of those who suffer; see the lifeless eyes of those who are physically blind, we pray: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
- Lord, see the discouraged eyes of those who give up on life; see the fire in the eyes of those who continue the fight, we pray: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
- See the eyes of those who are shut to people; see the eyes full of tears of those who mourn for those they loved, we pray: R/ Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope.
Lord Jesus, make us openour eyes, our hands, our heart and so we can look on this world and on people with the same gentle eyes as you, who are our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
God our Father,
the whole world is a sign of you:
Your beauty is reflected in every flower
and each ray of the sun shines with your light.
Give each of us a grateful heart
that rejoices in simple things.
Give us new eyes to discover
in these signs of bread and wine
the love and the life of Jesus your Son
and give us faith to see how good it is
to be your people in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
God called us out of the darkness of sin into the light of faith and his love. Led by Jesus, our light and life, we give our joyful thanks to the Father.
God says to us today
that he is a Father to his people.
Let us pray to him in the words of Jesus: R/ Our Father...
Lord Jesus,
you give strength and joy and light
to those who want to follow you.
Make the lame jump for joy,
restore the sight of the blind,
set all the captives free
and bring to all who suffer
the hope and peace of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ For the kingdom...
This is Jesus the Lord,
who meets us on the road.
Happy are we that he comes
to heal us from our blindness
and to call us to follow him. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
God, our loving Father,
we have heard and seen your son
and recognized him
in the breaking of bread.
Help us to see in his light
what is right and what is wrong in us.
Make us understand the deeper meaning
of suffering and pain.
And one day show us yourself as you are,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
We have heard in this eucharist
how the Lord gives new light to dead eyes.
A blind man sees and follows the Lord.
May the Lord make us people
who see with eyes of faith.
May the Lord help us to see the road to follow
and to recognize the Lord in our life.
May he give us the joy to follow him.
And may almighty God bless all of you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace
and let the Lord's light shine on you. R/ Thanks be to God.
