“As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out.” “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more.” “Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man.” “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?” “I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.”
Bartimaeus is a beggar. In Jesus’ time, personal almsgiving was provided from people who were rich to people who were poor or in need. It did not always suffice. Rich people tended to interpret a beggar as greedy; they are a sinner who wants too much. It is understandable the disciples respond to Bartimaeus with a cold heart and rebuke him. What is it like to live in want – and to be judged a sinner for it? To want food for more than one meal or one day is not being greedy, a welfare leech. To want love for more than personal romance but for social well-being is not being a socialist, a communist. How far we have strayed from a loving heart as Jesus extended to a blind man judged a sinner. How far we have strayed from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This month includes the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, who reminded a world that had grown cold, that the warmth of a Sacred Heart is plentiful. Margaret, like too many people of her own time and ours, was negatively affected by a Reformation belief that people are inherently sinners. The belief proposes humanity is depraved; we are unable to do good. However, the belief also proposes some people are predestined by an otherwise wrathful God for salvation. We should not be surprised if wealth played a role in that sinner vs. saved predestination belief system. Margaret believed otherwise. Margaret, physically and spiritually, envisioned a God of Love, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “an inexhaustible fountain of love… continually flowing.” It is in this same month of Margaret Mary’s feast that Pope Francis reminds listeners to open our hearts to love and to receive the love of others. Francis too is negatively affected by the Reformation belief. Nevertheless, his fourth encyclical, Dilexit Nos, meaning ‘God Loves Us,’ centers us on “the power of heart” in a “fragmented” world. We all of us need a “profound unifying center,” to feel the feel the beating of our own heart” and the beating of great “Presence” in the world. Feeling that beating heart fills us with a “missionary impulse.” We reach out and keep reaching out with a “heart on fire” to love our brothers and sisters. Francis also points out that Jesus’ Sacred Heart is a wounded heart, yet it is open. Our wounded and open hearts united with Jesus’ wounded and open heart are the sacred hearts “capable of working a social miracle.”
“We must never be discouraged or give way to anxiety. . . but ever have recourse to the adorable Heart of Jesus.” (Margaret Mary Alacoque)
Prayer: Sacred Heart of Jesus, we join our love with yours.
Question: What is diverting me from living as a Sacred Heart?
October 27, 2024 Mark 10:46-52 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time