Homily for October 25, 2009

    What do you want? What do you want me to do for you? Bartimaeus, the blind man knows what he wants; he asks for it; and Jesus grants it.
    Notice, that his faith has come by hearing. He hears that Jesus of Nazareth is near and is passing close to him, and he shouts out. The crowds in front trying to shush him show their lack of understanding, raising the question as to who is blind here. The blind man “kept calling out all the more,” showing his belief. He sees within. He has insight. The irony is that those who can see, do not. He ‘sees’ and ‘knows’ who Jesus is, and calls him “Son of David.”
    Jesus hears and stops. Jesus asks him: “What do you want me to do for you”? Jesus, in effect, is inviting the man to clarify for all present that he is not asking for alms. This blind man, made small through begging alms, has greatness in him: he begs not for something small but for something great: his sight. He begs big because he sees big – that Jesus is Messianic Son of David, who can grant him something very great. What is more, he is bold enough to ask for it, already believing that Jesus can do it and that he will do it: “Master, I want to see.” Because he has insight into Jesus’ identity, he has his physical sight restored. “Your faith has saved you,’ Jesus tells him. The first thing he sees is the face of Jesus, seeing him. The blind man sees the face of God -- in Jesus. Jesus, in seeing the blind man, recreates him. He begins preaching the good news when he follows Jesus ‘on the way’, a new way. He throws aside his cloak, meaning he begins a new life. He is ‘good news’, a living gospel. Before, he was a marginalized person, by the side of the road. Now he is a leader. The “sizable crowd” now are being led by his example.
    In a sense, Bartimaeus is every beggar. He is us. He is a model for us. Are we not, after all, beggars when we pray? Are we not all blind in some way? The blind man models begging for what we need, having faith that it will be granted. This miracle story is also a story of salvation occurring in the events of practical, daily life. If Jesus do this for the beggar, what will he do for me? In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius Loyola tells us to speak directly to Jesus, and to “ask God our Lord for what I want and desire” or “the grace I desire.” Bartimaeus, the blind man can lead everyman and everywoman to ponder: ‘What is it I want?’ and once it is brought to light, to ask for it boldly as the spirited blind man does. So what do you want?