CELEBRATE SUNDAY
WITH ST. MARY'S
THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Call on God in prayer, even if everything tells you not to.
THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
The purpose of prayer is to simply let God know the intentions within our hearts. Whether we deeply desire to express our gratitude towards Him, or to humble ourselves in His glory, or to petition Him for something we desperately desire, He already knows exactly what we want to say to Him; however, prayer is our involvement in God’s providence. We articulate and make known those things within us that God already knows so that we actively choose to conform our individual wills to His divine will. The purpose of prayer is not to receive everything we ask for at the exact moment we ask for it. Though people may dismiss prayer as pointless, we as Christians understand its true nature - communicating with God because we want to be with God.
READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Bartimaeus sits on the road as a beggar and is caught up in a massive crowd as they are leaving the town of Jericho. Bartimaeus has no idea what is going on because he is blind; he is forced to depend on the senses he still has, especially the sense of sound. He has to rely on the people around him to understand that the reason why there is such a commotion around him is because Jesus, the alleged Messiah who has reportedly been healing the sick, is moving through the area. Bartimaeus did not see Jesus. Even with the sense of sound that he relied on, he could not even hear Jesus’ voice. Instead, he paid attention to the signs of Christ’s arrival: the great commotion of the crowd, the reports of Jesus’ activity, and the mention (whether someone told him directly or merely heard it among the crowd) that Jesus was there. With no inhibition and desperation in his heart, Bartimaeus began to scream into the air, directing his shouts in no particular direction because he did not know where Christ was among all the voices. Even when everyone told him to stop, he refused. He simply desired that Jesus would know he was there. Interestingly, Bartimaeus is only asking for one thing from Christ at this point: pity. This is enough for Christ to wade through the crowds, call Bartimaeus to him, acknowledge his presence, and to ask him exactly what he wants. When Bartimaeus asks for sight, he is granted the gift.
What did Bartimaeus actually want? Perhaps it was just the reports of Jesus’ miracle-work that made Bartimaeus think he could regain his sight. But in this Gospel story, Bartimaeus is representing the role of a person praying to God from this world. We cannot see God; all we can take in are the signs of His presence, the reports of His activity, the commotion of His followers, the desperation in our hearts. When we pray, we shamelessly shout out into the sky hoping that God might hear us call upon Him. People tell us that our prayers are pointless, that the one we pray to is not there because we cannot see Him. But He is listening. He then calls us to stand before Him, and we leave everything behind just to listen to Him acknowledge us. He asks us what we really want; and what we really want may not be exactly what we prayed for. What we really want is to be made whole, and He is the only one who makes us whole. If we cannot see, we wish to see Him. If we cannot hear, we at least wish to hear Him. And when our sight is restored, our first image that we see is His face. In our sinfulness, we have lost sight of God. In his solidarity and love and pity for us, Christ restores our sight so that we may see God once again. But he will only do this when we articulate our needs and desires, and when we make our presence known to Him because He already shows us through the signs around us that He is among us. This is prayer. Do not listen to the crowds who tell you to stop. Listen to the signs, the call of God, and pray unceasingly so that God may hear you and call you to Him.
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