I have never had to beg for food. \u00a0Life has never placed me in the shoes of Bartimaeus, having to beg for my livelihood.<\/p>\n
Some here today at this Mass perhaps have had to beg for food or drink, I do not know. \u00a0Maybe some of you have experienced first-hand the plight of Bartimaeus.<\/p>\n
In my home country there are beggars everywhere: at church doors, at red lights, at markets, and parking lots. \u00a0The beggars are old men who can hardly walk, young children forced to beg out of hunger, the maimed, the mentally ill, mothers, fathers, and yes, sometimes they are thieves and drug addicts. <\/p>\n
I have never seen a child\u2019s face light up so intensely as when I gave the sandwich I did not eat on my\u00a0flight from Lima to Cuzco to a begging child outside the airport. \u00a0I had kept it for later, but decided to pass it on. \u00a0Without even looking up at me or thanking me, the child grabbed that sandwich and ran a bit farther away to devour it. <\/p>\n
All beggars, Bartimaeus included, grow used to one thing: rejection. <\/p>\n
It is the experience of constantly being told \u201cno.\u201d \u00a0Easily ninety-nine out of one hundred times a beggar asks for something, he or she is either ignored or told \u201cno.\u201d \u00a0No, no, no. \u00a0Their begging seems to be in vain. <\/p>\n
Consider Bartimaeus. \u00a0He calls out to Jesus and is rejected: he was told to be silent. \u00a0You can almost hear those around him: \u201cHush him up, ignore him, it\u2019s him again, don\u2019t let him disturb us, he should be working to make a living, don\u2019t give him anything, get him away.\u201d <\/p>\n
Those around Bartimaeus pretend he does not exist, yet his need is great and he continues to beg. \u00a0He continues to beg despite of what society thinks of him, despite the fear of rejection, despite his feelings of inadequacy and inferiority gained after years of being ignored and cast aside. <\/p>\n
Imagine how discouraged Bartimaeus must have been, blind and poor. \u00a0When he heard Jesus was near, he was not going to let the opportunity pass.<\/p>\n
Finally Jesus calls out to him. \u00a0Bartimaeus is told: \u201cTake courage.\u201d \u00a0He is immediately encouraged by the mere fact someone paid attention to him. Someone has recognized his existence. \u00a0Someone has taken the time to speak to him. Jesus has not rejected him, but rather, in his poverty, Christ now calls to him.<\/p>\n
Bartimaeus stands up. \u00a0He takes off his cloak. \u00a0He gains confidence by rising; he drops his cloak which was probably filthy and full of crawling bugs. <\/p>\n
Imagine what he experienced after so much rejection when now Jesus asks him, \u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMaster, I want to see.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bartimaeus is wise to ask for the impossible. \u00a0He could have asked for money as he had so many other times, but he knows he can ask the impossible from Jesus. \u00a0In his poverty, in his misery that allows him to place his faith entirely in Jesus, Bartimaeus he is healed.<\/p>\n
We may not be beggars like Bartimaeus, dirty and poor, at the mercy of others for a plate of food, yet the truth is, that we are all beggars in the presence of God.<\/p>\n
We are beggars at the feet of the throne of grace<\/i>. \u00a0When we go to confession, we become like Bartimaeus, a person who has felt the rejection and discouragement that comes from sin and we also ask for the impossible: the forgiveness of our sins. \u00a0We cannot achieve this on our own, we must beg, and God graciously grants it to us in the same way Jesus grants Bartimaeus sight.<\/p>\n
When we trust in our own abilities, we are like a beggar trying to get food from another beggar. \u00a0When we turn to the Lord in our need and ask for the impossible: for divine wisdom and assistance, God graciously grants it to us.<\/p>\n
Bartimaeus lacked sight, so he asked for the impossible, he asked for sight. <\/p>\n
What is it that you lack in your life that you have not asked the Lord to give to you? \u00a0Perhaps all you need to do is ask so the Lord can then say: \u201cGo your way; your faith has saved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
In our poverty of grace, Christ pays attention to us and calls us to encourage us, forgive us and heal us.<\/p>\n
In our poverty of love, Christ surrenders himself entirely out of love for us and calls us to love selflessly and without measure.<\/p>\n
In our poverty of material things, Christ calls us to trust in Him for our every need, material and spiritual.<\/p>\n
We approach the altar as beggars who receive something unimaginable and unattainable on our own: the body and blood of Christ. \u00a0May the Lord open up our hearts to help us recognize our poverty, and so trust Jesus as Bartimaeus did, and receive the healing we need.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have never had to beg for food. \u00a0Life has never placed me in the shoes of Bartimaeus, having to beg for my livelihood. Some here today at this Mass perhaps have had to beg for food or drink, I do not know. \u00a0Maybe some of you have experienced first-hand the plight of Bartimaeus. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n