“Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
“Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 28, 2018
Mark 10, 46-52
Next Sunday we shall hear the last miracle story in Mark’s Gospel. It is the end of the “discipleship” section. This section began with the healing of someone who was deaf. Now with ears and eyes open we will move on to Jerusalem and bring to a close the Gospel of Mark as Advent is coming. Those who are truly on the road to Jerusalem with Jesus are a people whose first question is not, “What can I get out of this?” or “What’s it going to cost me?” When someone approaches a disciple of Jesus Christ, the disciple, rather than defensively wondering “What do the they want?” will generously respond: “What do you want me to do for you.” Learning to ask that question, growing to claim that question as the only way we may stand in relationship to one another moves us a long way toward Jerusalem. The story of Bartimaeus tells more about discipleship than it does about the actual healing that took place. Becoming a disciple means finally that we enter into a certain discipline, travel a certain path, follow the footsteps of the master. That discipline in our tradition is ultimately called stewardship and it springs out of a heart conditioned to serve, to come to any whose need we can see and ask sincerely from our hearts, “What do you want me to do for you.”
Fr. Tom Boyer