{"id":858,"date":"2012-10-29T16:35:53","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T20:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=858"},"modified":"2012-10-29T16:35:53","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T20:35:53","slug":"homily-for-october-28-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/homily-for-october-28-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily for October 28, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nJeremiah 31:7-9
\nHebrews 5:1-6
\nMark 10:46-52
\nOctober 28, 2012<\/p>\n

Bartimaeus\u00a0was a blind man and a beggar.\u00a0 Physically, as a blind man, Bartimaeus would not have been able to work in the common jobs of the time.\u00a0 Since he could not work, he was forced to become a beggar.\u00a0 For this alone, he would have been considered an outcast by many.<\/p>\n

To add to that, in the Jewish understanding of the time, his blindness would have been seen as punishment for sin.\u00a0 They may not have any idea what his sin was but they would assume he must have sinned in some way.\u00a0 Labeled as a sinner, he would again be considered an outcast and no one would have associated with him.<\/p>\n

When Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is near, he calls out to him.\u00a0 But he does not just call him by the name Jesus.\u00a0 No, he adds the title \u201cSon of David\u201d indicating some recognition of Jesus\u2019 greatness.\u00a0 He asks Jesus for pity.<\/p>\n

We do not hear the initial reaction of Jesus but we are told that \u201cmany rebuked him, telling him to be silent.\u201d\u00a0 They were treating him as an outcast.<\/p>\n

He is not deterred.\u00a0 He keeps calling out to Jesus.\u00a0 Now, Jesus stops and tells his disciples to call Bartimaeus over.\u00a0 Now, the disciples eagerly do so at Jesus\u2019 command.<\/p>\n

Jesus asks him \u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\u201d\u00a0 This is a complete reversal of last week when James and John asks Jesus to do what they ask.\u00a0 This is Jesus\u2019 initiative.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bartimaeus\u00a0says he wants to see.\u00a0 Jesus does nothing except say \u201cyour faith has saved you\u201d and Bartimaeus\u00a0is healed.\u00a0 Bartimaeus was considered an outcast but he called out to Jesus in need and Jesus heard and answered his call.<\/p>\n

What would you have done?\u00a0 Would you have helped Bartimaeus or shunned him?\u00a0 Would you have felt sorry for him in his blindness?\u00a0 Would it have been out of compassion or \u2018feeling bad\u2019 for him?<\/p>\n

I hope we might all want to help him but would we?<\/p>\n

I know when people come to me walking down the street, I can be torn.\u00a0 (For the record, I\u2019m talking right now as an ordinary person without my collar on).\u00a0 How do you react if you\u00a0see someone who is unclean or smells.\u00a0 I have to admit I am uncomfortable.\u00a0 I want better for them but I struggle with knowing what really helps them.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, assuming we give them a chance to speak before shunning them, they give a story that doesn\u2019t quite add up.\u00a0 Sometimes, the story hits home and we do something to help them.<\/p>\n

What do you do?\u00a0 Do you ignore them?\u00a0 Who might you ignore and who might you help?\u00a0 The blind?\u00a0 The lame? A mother with a young child?<\/p>\n

There is no one who Jesus won\u2019t help.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As individuals, we can\u2019t help everyone.\u00a0 But we have to begin somewhere.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a church, some say we should focus on the spiritual.\u00a0 They say stick to what Jesus says.\u00a0 Well, Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-46 to feed the hungry and care for the sick.\u00a0 How much more clear do you need it to be?<\/p>\n

We can do some of this individually and some of it through community organizations that pool the giving of our time, talent, and treasure.<\/p>\n

Some such organizations are totally secular in nature.\u00a0 I like faith to be a motivating factor in the mission of such organizations.\u00a0 We are called to help anyone regardless of their faith and we don\u2019t need to force our faith on them but we can let our faith influence our own actions.<\/p>\n

All this is why I am a supporter of Catholic Charities.\u00a0 When I was in Elmira, I served on the local board there.\u00a0 For four years now, I have been on the board of Providence Housing which is part of Catholic Charities, and just recently I became a member of the Catholic Charities board here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How might you help as an individual or by helping a group like Catholic Charities?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 31:7-9 Hebrews 5:1-6 Mark 10:46-52 October 28, 2012 Bartimaeus\u00a0was a blind man and a beggar.\u00a0 Physically, as a blind man, Bartimaeus would not have been able to work in the common jobs of the time.\u00a0 Since he could not work, he was forced to become a beggar.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Homily for October 28, 2012’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-dQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions\/859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}