We walk by faith, not by sight

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
Gospel Mk 10:46-52
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."
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, Jesus 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."

We walk by faith, not by sight

He is Erik Weihenmayer, who lost his sight at age 13. Who would believe that he became one of the most accomplished adventurers in the world? To date there are only 3 blind men who reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the two others are Austrian Andy Holzer in 2018 and Chinese Zhang Hong in May this year. In 2001 Erik was hailed as the first blind man to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He conquered the 7 Summits in 2008, climbing the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents, including the infamous Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite and 2,700-foot vertical ice face in Nepal. He kayaked the Grand Canyon’s rapids. Involved in various charities for the visually impaired and co-founded No Barriers USA.

He wrote two books and his life story was made into an award-winning feature film called Farther than the Eye Can See. He is a motivational speaker across the globe, highlighting that you don’t have to have perfect sight to have a vision. His team helped him to achieve his goals as if they are his eyes, feet, and hands. He said, “I have my internal voyage, alchemy to transform tough things and turn them into good things. I need to grow in my vision from the inside and it will blaze my path forward.”

Today’s Gospel account speaks about the healing of the blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of honor) whom Jesus and His disciples meet sitting by the road alone just outside Jericho, the oldest city in the ancient world. But Jesus shows him respect and restores his sight so that the man might reclaim the honor accorded by his name. The streets were filled with pilgrims heeding to the Holy City- Jerusalem. Jericho is also the home of many priests and Levites who serve at the temple. The crowds are aware and curious of Jesus’ popularity (His name precedes Him) as a healer as He walks along the noisy streets. He waited for this moment and was heard by Jesus as he shouted: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus asked His disciples to help him get up for he seemed not to have friends.

Some crucial details of the story that are worth reflecting on:

- If we approach Jesus as our healer, we trust His Holy Name. Do not be afraid to call and beg even in the crowd

- There will always be friends to help us for it is innate amongst us to care, support, to help someone who is poor like this blind man

- Be humble and surrender everything to Jesus. He threw aside his cloak, jumped, and came to Jesus. The symbol of cloak might be insignificant, yet loaded with meaning in ancient Palestine. As heavy and thick clothing, it was also the most versatile item. It protects against the frequent temperature changes; insulation against the harsh Judean winds and at night it doubles as a blanket especially for the poorer locals of the Holy Land, like Bartimaeus.

- St Mark highlights it so clearly, the Fathers of the Church have seen this cloak as a symbol of self-sufficiency, a symbol of our deep-seated tendency to think that we are capable of solving all of our problems on our own. It symbolizes all those things that wrongly depend on for happiness that we tend to idolize: good looks, physical prowess, intelligence, athletic ability, money, promotions, success, and popularity. These things are good and valuable but only secondary in importance. Friendship with God is above all is the true source of the fulfillment we most yearn for. Even before the blind man leaves his cloak, his security behind, he shows that he has learned this lesson by his faith-filled persistence and pure humility. Though everyone was in doubt about him as he put his trust in God, he refused to be silenced, and the compassion of Christ’s heart did not let him down.

Going back to the extraordinary and remarkable story of Erik, we do not know if he is a Christian or not, or what philosophy or beliefs he holds in his heart. Being blind did not prevent him to conquer his fears, being handicapped, and helplessness. He mentioned his internal voyage (growing in vision) that propelled him to rise above his imperfections and inadequacy to conquer not only Mt. Everest, but also himself though his sight was not restored. His sheer determination and strength could come from his trust in his team, family, and friends who journeyed with him. His vision is beyond what the human eye could see. He stripped himself of his security and comfort – his own cloak of discouragement, self-pity, or anything impossible that a human eye could see.

Many of us, though could clearly see but were blinded by ignorance, sin, pride, selfishness, and greed. We all have blind spots, if only we ask and beg Jesus: open our eyes, Lord, we want to see You. We should walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Erik saw the light even in darkness. This light is his faith in God and trust in all who help him “get up” and encourage him

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A Blind Man’s love

A man married a beautiful girl. He loved her very much. One day she developed a skin disease. Slowly she started to lose her beauty. It so happened that one day her husband left for a tour. While returning he met with an accident and lost his eyesight. However, their married life continued as usual. But as days passed she lost her beauty gradually. The blind husband did not know this and there was not any difference in their married life. He continued to love her and she also loved him very much. One day she died. Her death brought him great sorrow. He finished all her last rites and wanted to leave that town.

A man from behind called and said, “Now how will you be able to walk all alone? All these days your wife used to help you”. He replied, “I am not blind. I was acting because if she knew l could see her skin condition due to a disease, it would have pained her more than her disease. I didn’t love her for her beauty alone, but I fell in love with her caring and loving nature. So I pretended to be blind. I only wanted to keep her happy”.
Moral: When you truly love someone, you will go to any extent to keep your loved one happy, and sometimes it is good for us to act blind and ignore one another’s shortcomings in order to be happy. Beauty will fade with time, but heart and soul will always be the same. Love the person for what he/she is from inside, not from outside. (adapted).