Oct. 28, 2012: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time B
As we grow older, we have difficulty learning the new electronic devices and Internet programs that our kids and grandkids seem to have absolutely no problem learning. It was so simpler in the past, we say, without the iPhones, DVR's, and Facebook. Do you ever wonder if Jesus, as old as he is, would have difficulty using a cell phone or social media to reach us?
A few days ago, a young man whose dad died late last week told me this story. His dad drove a semi-truck for delivery out of state frequently, and his dad would call his wife always at 5PM to check in with her to see if things were going well. One day last week, his mom didn't get a call at 5PM; they began to suspect that something was wrong. When the son heard that his dad had passed away, he earnestly began to pray, "God, can you give me a sign that my dad made it to heaven?" The next day, he forgot about that prayer as he helped his mom make the arrangements for the funeral. Later that day when he had a chance to look on his iPhone, he noticed that there was a voicemail from an "Unknown" number. When he listened to the message, he heard, "He made it." The message was left precisely at 5:01PM. It doesn't sound like Jesus has any problem using our technology to send us signs.
The young man who just lost his dad is grieving because he not only lost his dad, but he also lost his best friend. The love that he had for his dad prompted him to question what his ordinary senses told him--that there is nothing after death. His love propelled him to desire to see what he could not see with his bare eyes. When he got that voicemail, it confirmed something he believed: that love is eternal.
The love that a father has for his son is eternal, and it desires to reach back into the realm of time and space to make its presence known. Why do we cherish and remember all the love we received? Because love does not die: love lives beyond earthly death. There must be a place where all this love lives eternally. Isn't blindness then a refusal to see, even with the aid of the eyes of faith, this eternal love that wants to be known and revealed?
The irony of the Gospel is that while the blind man Bartimaeus was able to see something in Jesus, the crowd was not able to see. Jesus asked Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus replied, "Master, I want to see." But this request to see is not simply a request to regain physical sight. Something was stirred in Bartimaeus when he felt the presence of Jesus; the eternal love of Heavenly Father called for Bartimaeus. Jesus said to the crowd who was trying to shush Bartimaeus, "Call him." Even today, Jesus calls us, even through our sophisticated cell phone voicemail system, to remind us of the very reason we are put on this earth--love. It is Father's love that called us to being, Father's love that we move and have our being, and at the end of our life, we return like a Prodigal Son into the arms of the loving Father. When Jesus said to Bartimaeus, "Go your way; your faith has saved you," it is Bartimaeus' belief in the eternal love of the Heavenly Father that saves him from plunging back into the darkness of believing that love does not exist.
All of us are in someway blind to Heavenly Father's love for us. Jesus wants us to emulate Bartimaeus. We read in the gospel, "Immediately Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus on the way." If our eyes are now opened to Heavenly Father's love for us, will we follow Jesus in the same way that He followed the Father? Will we have that same self-emptying love, accepting suffering offering sacrifice for all?
