Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Scripture

There are many things we can take away from today’s readings, but I only want to highlight one of them, and that is that we should learn to become more like the blind man Bartimaeus; we need to unhesitatingly cry out to the Lord when we need help. And let’s face it, we always need help, all of the time. Sometimes we may not need as much help for ourselves, but we may be moved by someone else’s difficulties. In those instances, let us join them in crying out to God for help.

In today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we can gleam a lot of important information about the rebellion of the northern tribes of Israel and how God promises to restore them. But what jumps out most clearly on the page is God’s overwhelming love and mercy. Never again let anyone question whether the depiction of God in the Old Testament is loving and merciful or not. Passages like this one abound. What’s so spectacular and merciful about God restoring “Ephraim,” the northern tribes? God is not simply having mercy on northern Israelites upon whom misfortune fell. No, what actually happens shows the depths of God’s mercy. The northern tribes rebelled against the Kingdom of David, which in 1 and 2 Chronicles the Bible calls the Kingdom of God.

Moreover, the northern Israelites rebelled directly against God, by setting up altars to rival the central sanctuary (Temple) in Jerusalem, and worshipped false gods. This rebellion and idolatry is what prompts God to use the prophets (like Hosea) to compare idolatry to spiritual adultery, because God is our divine spouse. So, this passage from Jeremiah highlights how merciful God truly is, in that He promises mercy upon the rebellious northerners who have not turned back to God. Moreover, He does this in the context of a passage (the only one in the Old Testament) which promises a future new covenant (31:31).

In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, we again see that Jesus is our true merciful high priest. Thus we are prepared for the Gospel Reading from St. Mark, where Bartimaeus, although blind, recognizes Jesus as the son of David, and cries out for mercy. Let us not hesitate to call upon the Lord for help. He wants us to do precisely this. It is not selfish to ask God for assistance when we need it. Moreover, we should pray for the faith of Bartimaeus who knew Jesus could help him. If we don’t make it a habit to ask God for what we need in our prayers, let’s start today. No matter how far away we are from Sainthood, through our baptism and our faith we remain sons and daughters of God. Since God is the eternal King of the universe, this makes us royal heirs: princes and princesses. Let’s cry out boldly to the Lord, and to the Blessed Mother who is the Queen of Heaven, and beg, in prayer, for the mercies we so desperately need, and for the mercies those around us so desperately need.

Jeff Morrow