Meditation of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa: XXX Sunday Of Ordinary Time

This Meditation is shared from the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Below you can find the Meditation of His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the XXX Sunday Of Ordinary Time, Sunday 27 October 2024.

Mark 10:46-52

We are now at the gates of Jerusalem, and what we read today (Mark 10:46-52) is the last of the miracles reported by the evangelist Mark. It is the last, and it is also an indicative miracle with deep symbolic meaning.

The protagonist is a blind man and, strangely enough, Mark mentions the name of this blind man: Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46).

This is the only case in which we know the name of a person whom Jesus heals, and this is no coincidence.

By mentioning the name, the evangelist wants to establish a connection between Bartimaeus and the other people in the Gospel whose names are known, namely the disciples. Bartimaeus is in fact the figure of the disciple, the one who follows Jesus on his way to Jerusalem.

In v. 49, the verb "to call" is heard three times. Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside and when he hears that Jesus is passing by, he begins to call out loudly for mercy.

Then Jesus stopped and called out to him and the same people who had previously been scolding him to be quiet called out to him: “Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you”. Bartimaeus is a called man, and his call says something about the lives of the disciples, who are not perfect, different, better people, but like all people are in need of salvation, of light. Jesus calls fragile people, and by calling them, he can heal them.

When Bartimaeus heard this, he immediately jumped up, threw off his cloak and came to Jesus (“So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus” - Mk 10,50). This is also another detail that tells us something about discipleship. For the disciple is the one who leaves everything he has behind, just as the first called ones had done. Not out of an effort of will, but because he has found the treasure, something greater and more important than his own security in life.

Finally, the last reference: Bartimaeus, called, healed, no longer sits by the roadside, but follows Jesus, just as the disciples are asked to follow him (“Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way” - Mk 10,52)…

This news was originally published on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Please click here to read the full text.