20150528 RECOVERING OUR DIRECTION IN LIFE
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Ecclesiasticus
42:15-26 ©
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I will remind you of
the works of the Lord,
and tell
of what I have seen.
By the words of the
Lord his works come into being
and all
creation obeys his will.
As the sun in shining
looks on all things,
so the
work of the Lord is full of his glory.
The Lord has not
granted to the holy ones
to tell
of all his marvels
which the Almighty
Lord has solidly constructed
for the
universe to stand firm in his glory.
He has fathomed the
deep and the heart,
and seen
into their devious ways;
for the Most High
knows all the knowledge there is,
and has
observed the signs of the times.
He declares what is
past and what will be,
and
uncovers the traces of hidden things.
Not a thought escapes
him,
not a
single word is hidden from him.
He has imposed an
order on the magnificent works of his wisdom,
he is
from everlasting to everlasting,
nothing can be added
to him, nothing taken away,
he needs
no one’s advice.
How desirable are all
his works,
how
dazzling to the eye!
They all live and
last for ever,
whatever
the circumstances all obey him.
All things go in
pairs, by opposites,
and he
has made nothing defective;
the one consolidates
the excellence of the other,
who could
ever be sated with gazing at his glory?
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Psalm
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Psalm 32:2-9 ©
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By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made.
Give thanks to the
Lord upon the harp,
with a
ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song
that is new,
play
loudly, with all your skill.
By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made.
For the word of the
Lord is faithful
and all
his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves
justice and right
and fills
the earth with his love.
By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made.
By his word the
heavens were made,
by the
breath of his mouth all the stars.
He collects the waves
of the ocean;
he stores
up the depths of the sea.
By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made.
Let all the earth
fear the Lord
all who
live in the world revere him.
He spoke; and it came
to be.
He
commanded; it sprang into being.
By the word of the
Lord the heavens were made.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ps129:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting
for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the
world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me
will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 10:46-52 ©
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As Jesus left Jericho
with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus),
a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have
pity on me.’ And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he
only shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and
said, ‘Call him here.’ So they called the blind man. ‘Courage,’ they said ‘get
up; he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus.
Then Jesus spoke, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Rabbuni,’ the blind man
said to him ‘Master, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has
saved you.’ And immediately his sight returned and he followed him along the
road.
RECOVERING
OUR DIRECTION IN LIFE
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There
is nothing more destructive of one’s happiness, fulfillment and meaning in life
than living an aimless life. Without direction, there is no motivation to
live, to carry on in life. Of course, we also need proper directions,
since choosing the wrong road will also lead us to destruction even though we
may have goals in life. Nevertheless, those who seek life by choosing the
wrong paths will one day also be lost. Hence, whether we have no
direction or are misdirected in life, we are just like the Blind Beggar,
Bartimaeus, sitting at the side of the road waiting in hope that we will be
able to see the road which we should take again. But how can we ever recover
our direction in life if we have lost it or are now without it? Do we
simply drift on and wait passively, hoping that things would change? This
is certainly not the way of faith but of despair. Indeed, if we truly
want God to enlighten us, then we must co-operate in this journey of
faith. How?
Firstly,
we are told that while waiting, Bartimaeus kept his ears open. Now, it is
certainly true that even when we are lost, God never fully abandons us.
We know that even if we have lost our physical eyesight, nature will compensate
our blindness by strengthening the other faculties that are still
working. In the same way too, if we have lost our direction in life and
we cannot see where we are going, then we need to listen to the prompting of
the Spirit who speaks to us. Like Bartimaeus, when we have lost our own
vision, then we must be ready to listen to the guidance of others and see
whether they can help us to find our vision. And the guidance can come
from all directions. Indeed, this was what Blind Bartimaeus did.
Instead of simply sitting down, he must have been extremely attentive to who
were passing by. He must have heard countless numbers of people sharing
their visions. But when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, the one
that people had talked about, he called out to Him.
Secondly,
after listening and discerning, we must be like blind Bartimaeus to call out
for help. We must be humble enough to seek for assistance. The
problem with many of us is that even if we have listened and the Holy Spirit
has enlightened us to a certain extent regarding our predicament, yet many of
us are too proud to seek for help. We prefer to resolve the problem by
ourselves. We are not willing to be led, counseled and inspired by
others. Humility therefore is the necessary element of recovering our
direction in life. Without humility, we cannot expect to learn or be
enlightened in the truth. Truly, if Blind Bartimaeus had simply sat
quietly by the roadside, nobody would have noticed that he was there.
Isn’t it true for many of us? We complain that God does not care and our
friends do not care, when it is because no one knows we are in trouble or need
assistance, since we are too proud to cry out for help.
Thirdly,
we must reckon that this humility which we speak about is a humility that will
be tested by the obstacles we face in the process of responding. For
Blind Bartimaeus, when he tried to seek for help, he was humiliated by the
crowd. They scolded him and told him to keep quiet. They must have
given Bartimaeus the feeling that he was a nobody, a goner. Jesus
certainly would not have time for him. He was not important to society.
They had given up hope on him. But we are told that in spite of such
negative support and discouragement, Blind Bartimaeus shouted all the
louder. Yes, the humility of Bartimaeus and his sincerity in seeking the
true meaning in life gave him the courage and perseverance to use every means
to seek for true liberation.
We,
too, like Blind Bartimaeus, must not allow wet blankets to kill our enthusiasm
and efforts in trying to find our direction and meaning in life. Once we
have heard and discerned what we want to do, we must pluck up our courage and
fight on the battle. Once we are clear of our goals and what we want in
life, the obstacles, be they personal or from external forces, should not
overwhelm us and kill our vision of life. Indeed, Jesus took notice.
Just as Jesus called Bartimaeus to Him because of his perseverance,
determination and humility, He will also call us to Him if we remain firm in
our beliefs and convictions. Then again if we open our ears wide enough,
then we will know that God has sent people into our lives to encourage
us. Indeed, there were some who said to Bartimaeus, “Courage, get up, he
is calling you.” He too is saying these words to us through our
friends, or when we read the Word of God, “Courage.”
Fourthly,
in our journey of growth, if we take courage, then we must get up as the gospel
tells us and throw off our cloak just as Blind Bartimaeus did. The
evangelist told us that he threw off his cloak, “jumped up and went to
Jesus.” Yes, Blind Bartimaeus let go of the very thing that he had hung
on to. It was an act of faith, a leap of faith indeed. It was this
cloak that had burdened him. It was this cloak that he could not give up,
that cloak which seemed to have offered him protection but actually had blinded
him. We too must ask ourselves what is this cloak that we need to get rid
of? Is it the cloak of sin, the cloak of fear, the cloak of pride, the
cloak of insecurity, the cloak of narrow-mindedness, the cloak of
attachment? Whatever it is, if we search deep enough into ourselves, we
know that it is because we are hanging to our cloaks that we are not
liberated. We do not have the courage to let go for fear that we might be
worse off.
But
faith requires us to let go. Jesus requires us to get rid of the cloak
that hinders us from seeing life rightly. But the moment we take the leap
of faith and trust in Jesus and take the challenge, then everything comes to
perspective and clarity. This was what happened to Blind
Bartimaeus. He was able to see again. But we must note what Jesus said
to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” And the evangelist wrote, “And
immediately his sight returned.” Yes, it is the courage to let go of our
past and sin; and the faith to trust in Jesus that allows us to see life
clearly again. Without faith in Jesus and the promises He holds for us,
we cannot see like the Blind Man. It is only a man of faith that can see the
glory of God in creation, as Sirach in the first reading so beautifully
illustrated. Only faith can help us to see God’s design in our lives.
Finally,
with sight comes direction and life. Yes, we are told that Blind
Bartimaeus did not simply regain his sight, but he followed Jesus along the
road. Once he knew Jesus, he too understood his direction in life.
That is why we know that Blind Bartimaeus was truly healed. He became a
true disciple of Jesus. Hence, true healing is not physical
healing. That is why some people who have been healed physically again
and again are not happy because their healing is superficial, skin deep
only. It only brings temporal relief but no real lasting life and
happiness. But with faith, we will regain our true sight of life, which
is manifested by our commitment to Jesus and our personal transformation as
happened in the case of Blind Bartimaeus. If a man claims to be healed of
his sight, be it physical or spiritual, and yet does not manifest any
transformation, then it is quite certain that no real enlightenment has taken
place because the act of faith has not yet been made. Once the act of
faith is made, then we can see ourselves entering into a new world, the world
of God, the world of wisdom, the world of marvels, as the author tells us in
the first reading.
But in
the final analysis, all these opportunities that knock at the door of our
hearts would be of no avail if we do not take the courage to get up to open our
closed doors and with faith take up the challenge of looking at life from the
perspective of the gospel. Because if we do, we can be certain that we
will walk a new path and our lives will be rich and meaningful and full of
gratitude and wonder, since in Christ we find the way, the truth and the life.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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