By the Faithful Disciple
GROW AS A DISCIPLE
Although today’s Gospel recounts the healing of Bartimaeus’ physical blindness, the story is a summons for each of us to be healed of our spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness, an effect of sin, clouds our ability to perceive who we are and who God is. Paradoxically, Bartimaeus’ spiritual eyesight is clear; he recognizes who Jesus is and he sees his own desperate need for Jesus’ help. For us, however, sin acts like dust, obstructing our vision and preventing us from perceiving God’s presence. We find it difficult to recognize God in other people and in the sacraments; and we likewise become incapable of perceiving ourselves as God sees us. If we wish to have our spiritual eyesight restored, we would do well to imitate Bartimaeus’ humble, confident prayer: “Master, I want to see.” Acknowledging our need before God and begging for His help, we invite him to heal our hearts, so that we, like Bartimaeus, may follow Jesus “on the way.”
GO EVANGELIZE
Where can we seek the healing of our “spiritual sight”? We should look for it from the same person from whom Bartimaeus begged to be cured of his physical blindness: Jesus. But whereas Bartimaeus’ encounter with Jesus took place amid noisy crowds of followers and curious onlookers, our most intimate relations with Our Lord take place in the quiet context of prayer and the sacraments. Above all, confession and Eucharistic Adoration offer us opportunities to meet God and petition Him for the cleansing of our hearts. In confession, we humbly acknowledge our need for conversion and invite God to heal us. In Eucharistic Adoration, we approach Jesus with the faith of Bartimaeus, seeing past the appearance of bread and declaring that the consecrated host is indeed God Himself. Through these eyes of faith, the Lord heals any blindness, and we can see “and [follow] Him on the way.”
PRAY
Choose a regular time to take advantage of the two opportunities for healing we’ve discussed – confession and Eucharistic Adoration. If you do not already go to confession regularly, consider making it a monthly commitment. Finally, set aside time this week to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either in Eucharistic Adoration or before the tabernacle in your church. Try visiting Him weekly – and then watch how your time in His presence transforms you.