Gospel Reflection Oct 27 – Deacon Frank
Sunday, October 27
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk 10: 46-52
Gospel:
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.
Gospel Reflection:
This Sunday’s Gospel offers a beautiful story of encounter, healing, faith, and discipleship, and offers many insights and lessons.
Jesus is going through Jericho and a blind man, Bartimaeus, hears of it and begins to call out to him. He eventually succeeds in catching Jesus’ attention and Jesus calls for him to come over. In response, Bartimaeus doesn’t just get up and walk over. No, St. Mark tells us that Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
The cloak he threw would be the cloak upon which he’d collect whatever coins people might throw his way, a cloak he needed as a beggar. But he threw that aside, confident that he wouldn’t need it anymore, ready to let that way of life go with the hope that Jesus would make something different possible.
Bartimaeus tells Jesus that he wants to see. Jesus gives him that, and more. Not only does Bartimaeus receive his eyesight, but even more importantly, he is granted salvation because of his faith. Bartimaeus responds by becoming a disciple of Jesus – by embracing that new life he had been ready for when he’d heard Jesus was coming through town and following Jesus on the way.
This weekend’s Gospel reminds us that sometimes the Lord is about more than restoration. Sometimes, that perseverance in prayer and that encounter with the Lord are meant to prompt a change, perhaps a radical change, in us — one that orients us to be willing to let go of everything and follow him.
As we go to Mass this weekend, may the Gospel challenge us to consider whether the Lord is inviting us to find that new way of seeing and being. Are we ready to throw aside our cloak and accept his healing and salvation?
Deacon Frank Iannarino