30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: October 25, 2009
Jer 31:7-9; Ps 126:1-6; Heb 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” This statement by Jesus to the blind beggar Bartimaeus is powerful; and it is a statement that we, in our culture, are in great danger of seriously misunderstanding. “Your faith has saved you.” What do we think of when we hear Jesus say those words? Do we hear George Michael singing 20 years ago, “Faithuh faithuh faithuh!”? Or, much worse, do we hear the 1940 movie Pinocchio, where for the first time Jiminy Cricket sang, “When you wish upon a star / Makes no difference who you are / Anything your heart desires / Will come to you“? Those words from the little cricket capture the error of our culture, which is likely to seriously mislead us about Jesus and what he is telling us, if we are not careful. So let us take a closer look at just what Bartimaeus’ faith was, which Jesus commended. (more…)