Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
May 30, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053024.cfm

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As Jesus 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.” 
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

Bartimaeus 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.”

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Bartimaeus wants to be healed. He wants to see. But Jesus tells him that he is not healed by his desire, or his begging, or his good fortune in running into Jesus. Bartimaeus is healed by his faith because that faith draws forth from Jesus the Divine Power which transforms.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

We can be blind in many ways.

• Often we can’t see what’s right in front of us.
• We can’t see why others may think differently from us
• We can’t see the underlying reasons for our circumstances.
• We can’t see the path to wholeness that may be obvious to others.
• We can’t see the suffering world around us
• We can’t see the invisible support that others give us, perhaps over our lifetime.
• We can’t see the abiding presence of God in our lives

Like Bartimaeus may we call out to Jesus in faith so that he will be moved to help us SEE all that may bring us closer to the Divine Heart.

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Poetry: Bartimaeus – John Newton

John Newton was an English Anglican clergyman, abolitionist, and hymn writer. He is best known as the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” one of the most beloved and widely sung hymns in the English language. Newton’s life was marked by a dramatic conversion experience, after which he abandoned his career in the slave trade and became an outspoken advocate for the abolition of slavery.

Mercy, O thou Son of David!
Thus blind Bartimaeus prayed;
Others by thy word are saved,
Now to me afford thine aid:
Many for his crying chid him,
But he called the louder still;
Till the gracious Saviour bid him
Come, and ask me what you will.

Money was not what he wanted,
Though by begging used to live;
But he asked, and Jesus granted
Alms, which none but he could give:
Lord remove this grievous blindness,
Let my eyes behold the day;
Strait he saw, and won by kindness,
Followed Jesus in the way.

O! methinks I hear him praising,
Publishing to all around;
Friends, is not my case amazing?
What a Saviour I have found:
O! that all the blind but knew him,
And would be advised by me!
Surely, would they hasten to him,
He would cause them all to see.

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Music: The God Who Sees – Rachel Barrentine