“Blind Faith or Blindness?”
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B
In College Seminary, during Philosophy Class we were asked to ponder some deep philosophical questions. One question that stands out is, “If you had to choose between seeing, hearing, or speaking, which one could you not live without?”
More often than not, seeing was the one we were all most afraid of losing and for some very interesting reasons. If you could not hear, then you would not have to listen to your Hall Dean tell you to clean up your room. And if you could not speak, you would not get called upon in class to answer a tough question. But if you could not see, well then, what would happen to our vocations for the Priesthood? What would seeing the beauty of Christmas be like or not being able to see who you were talking to? To me and my fellow philosophers, the benefits of seeing were, just plain and simple, overwhelming!
And so, it was with Bartimaeus. Blind, possibly from birth, he had but one fervent desire, “Master I want to see.” Because of Bartimaeus’ unwavering faith, Jesus answered his prayer with the words we all know so very well, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” And in that instant the eyes of Bartimaeus were opened, and all the wonderful sights of the world around him were made real.
So how good is our vision? Are we using this wonderful gift of sight to its potential? Sure, we all see the image-filled screens on our iPhones, movies on Netflix or the words in a Reflection, but are we missing something?
If you are like me, the something we are missing is Jesus. Jesus is present in all we encounter, from the moment we open our eyes in the morning, to closing them at night. For he is a “24-7-365” constant in our lives, whose presence we so often overlook.
Perhaps Bartimaeus is a hopeful sign for all of us. Bartimaeus could not even see Jesus, but his faith was strong enough that he called out to him because something or someone inside this blind man encouraged him to call out to this man Jesus because he knew Jesus could heal him.
As we go about our affairs this week, we should all try and focus a little more closely on what we are really seeing and who is in our field of view. Maybe if we look a little closer at the entire picture, or try and peer around the corner, we will see Jesus standing there showing us his guiding hand, his unfailing willingness to be with us.
And maybe, if we learn how to improve our focus, Jesus will no longer be at the edges or hidden in the shadows, but front and center in our field of view, and we will truly see “Christ in all things.”
Hopefully, with our new and improved 20-20 vision, we will also see how to love like Jesus loves. That is the type of sight that is truly worth praying for.
God bless us, and all who live in simplicity of heart.