30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B
Jer. 31:7-9, Hebr. 5:1-6, Mk. 10:46-52
Pope Francis dedicated 2024 to prayer where he invited the whole Church to a time of intense commitment in preparation for the Opening of the Holy Door. When Pope Francis announced the Year of Prayer preceding the Jubilee 2025, he encouraged the faithful as follows: “I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live well this event of grace, and to experience the strength of God’s hope. […] A year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world” (Angelus, January 21, 2024).
The first duty of parents is to make sure their children have all they need. Jesus teaches us that God is both his Father and our Father (John 20:17). He calls God “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). Jesus teaches us to pray to God as our Father (Matt. 6:9). God does not put a limit on what he will do for us when we ask him in prayer. “This is the confidence we have in approaching him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). In the first reading, we hear that God is a shepherd and father to Israel. The Lord will save what is left of his people and bring them back from exile with even the most helpless sharing in the joy of the event. God is a Father who makes sure his children are provided with the basic needs such as water so that the people may the sustained on their way. Such is our God whom we approach in prayer with confidence. He hears our cry and our prayer.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus gives Bartimaeus his sight. The blind man’s faith and perseverance in prayer is in an example for us to imitate. In our prayer God is looking to “find faith on earth” (Luke 18:8). The blind man calls on Jesus besides the crowd’s effort to shut him up. He calls out Jesus “Son of David”. We should never tire out on calling to Our Lord. Despite reproaches we receive from persons or the hostile environment, we should never shut up or be prevented from living our Christian faith. Bartimaeus acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah. He calls him by name, Jesus.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. (CCC 2666). Bartimaeus insist on being heard. Like Bartimaeus, God wants us to “always . . . pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Bartimaeus does not use many words but prays with his heart. With a voice full of faith and trust he shouts “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When Jesus summons him, he throws aside his cloak. This cloak could have been his most prized possession. He may have flung off his cloak because he wanted to be free of any obstacle on his way to Jesus. It could have also have been a show of faith as he believed Jesus would heal him and would no longer be blind. There is need for us to persevere in prayer and get rid of those attachments that may be an obstacle in our encounter with Jesus.
Pope Francis encourages people to persevere in prayer, emphasizing how constant prayer transforms not only the person, but also the wider community, even where evil seems to have the upper hand. The prayer of Bartimaeus transformed him. For us to change, we need to be men and women of prayer.
Pope Francis says that “everything in the Church originates in prayer and everything grows thanks to prayer. When the Enemy, the Evil One, wants to fight the Church, he does so first by trying to drain her fonts, preventing them from praying. […] Prayer is what opens the door to the Holy Spirit, who inspires progress. Changes in the Church without prayer are not changes made by the Church. They are changes made by groups” (General Audience, April 14, 2021).
The prayer said by the blind man is a prayer of supplication. We should never hesitate to come before God to offer our prayers of supplication. Pope Francis says “the prayer of supplication reflects our human vulnerability and need for help. With this type of prayer, we present our personal needs, deepest desires, and most urgent concerns to God. We are encouraged to present our requests to God with confidence and perseverance, remembering that He is always ready to listen to our hearts: ‘He asks us for constancy, He asks us to be determined, without shame. Why? Because I am knocking on my friend’s door. God is a friend, and with a friend I can do this. A constant, intrusive prayer’ (Morning Meditation Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, October 11, 2018). Supplication, then, becomes a time of intimate communion with God, where our vulnerability meets His infinite mercy and love: through it, we learn to trust God more deeply, entrusting Him with our whole life, our concerns, our hopes, and desires.” (TEACH US TO PRAY” Living the Year of Prayer in Preparation for Jubilee 2025)
As come before the Lord, let us remember that Jesus is the perfect priest who opened the eyes of the blind, who frees us from darkness and helps us to walk in the light of goodness. As we come to him today, let us hear the amazing question he asks us: “What do you want me to do for you?” Do I know? Let us always turn to God in our need with faith and confidence.