In the United States, roughly 1 million people are blind. There are an additional roughly 3 million people who have an uncorrectable visual impairment, and another 3 million who have a correctable visual impairment, but are unable to obtain medical intervention. Meaning, nearly 7 million “blind people” in the US.
While there are many things that can cause blindness, three of the top several diseases are (1) Cataracts, (2) Age-related Macular Degeneration (or AMD), and (3) Glaucoma. These aren’t the only causes, but for the point of illustration, they are the three I’ll be discussing.
Cataracts are caused by a clouding of the lens or lenses. AMD is caused by a degeneration of the back of the eye, obstructing the image coming into the eye right in the middle. Glaucoma, on the other hand, damages the optic nerve, causing the edges off the image to be lost to the viewer.
Blindness is in the top 10 disabilities, ranking at number nine, falling just before stroke (at number 10) and after diabetes (at number 8.)
Today is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Our Gospel Reading is the story of the blind man known to us as Bartimaeus … which is Aramaic for “son of Timaeus.”
The story in itself is remarkable. He is a beggar. And when he hears that Jesus is passing by, he begins crying out. The crowd tries to shut him up … not a very nice thing to do … especially when the person passing by is a noted healer. And when he does go to Jesus, he gets up and throws aside his cloak … which is his coat, his umbrella, and most likely his home.
This chapter from St. Mark’s Gospel begins with Jesus speaking about the divine plan for marriage which was stricter than the practice of the time. The disciples shooing away children, and Jesus reversing that and allowing the children to come to Him and blessing them. Next, Jesus sets a high bar for a rich young man, who goes away sad … not willing to come to Jesus with nothing. Jesus then begins to speak of His passion, death, and resurrection.
As if oblivious to this, two of the apostles ask for top spots in the Kingdom of Heaven … ticking off the other 10 apostles who wish they had thought of it first. And then we have today’s story of Bartimaeus.
Why this story here?
Well, the apostles have been missing the mark so far, being confused on marriage, children, property, and power. The placement of a story of a blind man right after these seems to point to Spiritual Blindness.
There are three ways to look at Spiritual Blindness. One can be ignorant … not knowing, or not wanting to know about God or Jesus or the Gospel. One can be cynical … not seeing the goodness of God or thinking that everyone is out for themselves. And finally, one can have a hardness of heart … not wanting to love, or not feeling worthy of love.
These three causes of Spiritual Blindness … ignorance, cynicism, or heart-heartedness … do have cures. And the physician is Jesus … the Divine Healer … who comes to us with Faith, Hope, and Love.
Faith overcomes spiritual ignorance … Hope overcomes spiritual cynicism … and Love overcomes hardness of heart.
Finally, the last two stories in this chapter from St. Mark have Jesus asking the same question … first of his two power-hungry disciples and second of blind Bartimaeus. The question is:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
And that is the question I’ll leave you with. “What do you want Jesus to do for you?”
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and DIvinity of Jesus Christ … as we receive Him … materially and spiritually … ask Him for whatever you want. And if you’re not sure what you want, ask Him for a deeper outpouring of Faith, and Hope, and Love. And as you receive from Him the graces of this Sacrament, know that “your faith has saved you,” and renewed by that faith … go on your way through, with, and in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
