Take Courage | May 26, 2016

May 26, 2016

Raise your hand if you have ever been blind to something and found yourself calling out to God in the darkness; or if you have ever been rebuked for being “too needy”; or if you have ever been told to get over it; or if you have ever ignored people’s judgment and ran to Jesus anyway. If so…then today’s gospel is about you and me. Bartimaeus was physically blind and made his living begging outside the city walls. His blindness was his livelihood. Raise your hand if you have ever had a job that you hated. Bart wanted something different. He wanted to be changed. His physical blindness opened the eyes of his soul to see the heart of the matter.

While the crowd and the apostles thought that Bartimaeus was harassing Jesus for money, Jesus heard his heart and he knew what Bart was really after. So he encouraged him saying, “Take courage, get up; Jesus is calling you.” One word of encouragement from Christ and the feeble blind beggar jumps to his feet and feels his way through the crowd to Jesus. Raise your hand if you have ever had to feel your way through the dark. Now imagine doing that at a sprint. Jesus engages in Bart’s prayer by asking him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Here comes the best play on words, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus knew Bart’s faith already made him see and when that critical element is lived out authentically, then the things that keep us physically blind will be washed away (immediately, according to Jesus): a bad relationship, poor time management, anger issues, unforgiveness, materialism, status, secularism, etc.

When we are blind, we need to listen more and when we do, even through all the distractions and the noise, we will hear the voice of Jesus, calling us to him, asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” Let’s take Bart’s lead and follow it up with a resounding, “I want to see!” Then sit back and look at all the wonders God puts before you. Have a blessed day.

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest
Lectionary: 350

Reading 1 1 PT 2:2-5, 9-12

Beloved:
Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk
so that through it you may grow into salvation,
for you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, 
a holy nation, a people of his own,
so that you may announce the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Once you were no people
but now you are God’s people;
you had not received mercy
but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners
to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul.
Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles,
so that if they speak of you as evildoers,
they may observe your good works
and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Responsorial Psalm PS 100:2, 3, 4, 5

R. (2c) Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him;
bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.

Alleluia JN 8:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 10:46-52

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.