What do you want me to do for you?

28 OCTOBER (Mk 10,46-52)

In the faith one does not have the eyes of the body, but he possesses the ones of the spirit and God and his kingdom of eternal light are seen. In the non faith, even if one has the eyes of the body, those of the spirit, soul are blind and man gropes in a vast moral darkness. Here’s what we learn from the prophecy of Isaiah.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies. But this you did not wish. “No,” you said, “Upon horses we will flee.” – Very well, flee! “Upon swift steeds we will ride.” – Not so swift as your pursuers. A thousand shall tremble at the threat of one; if five threaten you, you shall flee, Until you are left like a flagstaff on the mountaintop, like a flag on the hill. Yet the Lord is waiting to show you favor, and he rises to pity you; For the Lord is a God of justice: blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: “This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or to the left. And you shall consider unclean your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered images; You shall throw them away like filthy rags to which you say, “Begone!” He will give rain for the seed that you sow in the ground, And the wheat that the soil produces will be rich and abundant. On that day your cattle will graze in spacious meadows; The oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat silage tossed to them with shovel and pitchfork. Upon every high mountain and lofty hill there will be streams of running water. On the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall, The light of the moon will be like that of the sun and the light of the sun will be seven times greater (like the light of seven days). On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people, he will heal the bruises left by his blows. See the name of the Lord coming from afar in burning wrath, with lowering clouds! His lips are filled with fury, his tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath, like a flood in a ravine that reaches suddenly to the neck, Will winnow the nations with a destructive winnowing, and with repeated winnowings will he battle against them (and a bridle on the jaws of the peoples to send them astray). You will sing as on a night when a feast is observed, And be merry of heart, as one marching along with a flute Toward the mountain of the Lord, toward the Rock of Israel. (Is 30,15-29).

Today, Jesus is passing through Jericho. There is a blind person that begs on the street. His eyes do not see. But the the eyes of his spirit, his soul see. These eyes see Jesus Christ as his only Redeemer, Saviour and he cries out asking for mercy, piety, compassion. He who passes might heal heal him.

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

Sometimes not only must one live faith in solitude, but also against the will of those around us, who not only do they hinder us, not only do they not care about us, as well as they even scold us so that we keep silent, we do not manifest the fire of salvation that is within us. The faith always needs an act of force, violence, resistance, opposition, and contrast. The blind man does not care about those who scold him, he shouts louder, so loud as to be heard by Lord Jesus. His voice surpasses by intensity all other unnecessary, silly, fruitless, futile voices, that resonate around Lord Jesus. Everyone wants to kill the faith in our hearts.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints make us cry our faith out.