Reflection
Sirach 42:15-25
Psalm 33
Mark 10:46-52
Persist! Persevere! Keep going! Today’s gospel shares the words of Jesus and His promise that He always hears us. In the gospel, we hear the blind man, Bartimaeus, begging Jesus to cure him. It is when Bartimaeus calls Jesus the Son of God that Jesus turns to him and tells Bartimeaus that it is his faith that has cured him.
It is incredibly significant that Bartimeaus calls Jesus the Son of God, this was a term reserved only for a messiah, and it is significant this discourse is occurring as Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem – the place where He will suffer, die and rise. Many times in the gospels, the occurrence of Jesus curing someone who is blind is a reference to a spiritual healing more so than a physical healing. As Jesus is on His way to the things that will happen in Jerusalem, His Apostles needed to have any doubt that He is the Son of God removed.
Bartimeaus had complete faith in Jesus that Jesus could cure Him because Jesus is the Son of God. When things get rough in our lives, we need to keep calling just like that. St Augustine taught that perseverance in faith is a gift given us by God but at the same time we likely do not see that gift until after the experience necessitating perseverance has passed.
So keep going! Keep at it! In the end, everything is going to be absolutely good! We may not necessarily like the route we sometimes have to travel, but when we trust in God to send us His Spirit that will help us persevere everything will be all good! What is it today that you need to just let go and let God…and give thanks for it?
Go smile at God today!