30th Sunday- B

30th Sunday-B 

Good morning/evening everyone, we are happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. 

Last week, I visited an older lady in a nursing home in Peterborough. We were all singing ‘Happy birthday’ to her and I said, “Wow...It’s awesome, you are 95 now”. And she was not happy with me at all. She got mad and I didn’t do anything at all and then she looked at me and said, “You know what I am only 94 and don’t make me old”. 

Once there was a little boy called ‘ODD”, and as he went to school, everyone made fun of him calling and saying, add. But he used to stick out his chest and walked boldly. Then he got a good job and family and as he got older, he said to his family, “You know what I don’t like my name and as I die, just put an empty tomb-stone and nothing on it” Then he died and the family erected a big empty tomb stone for him and as hundreds of people went around the cemetery, they all looked at the empty tombstone and said, “That is odd”. 

Friends in Christ Jesus,  

There was a man by name ‘John Newton’ in England and he was very much involved in selling people as slaves to different countries. He made lots of money and life went very well for him and then one day, as he was travelling with so many people with the intention of selling them as slaves, what happened was, there came a huge typhoon that hit the ship and he knew that he was going to die and that time, John Newton who never practiced his faith and he did go to church that often knelt down and prayed to God saying, “God, please spare my life and I promise that I would never involve in human trade and I will dedicate my whole life to Christ our Lord and thus try my best to improve humanity” Then he was miraculously saved and he eventually became a minister and dedicated his life to Christ and he was the one who wrote that beautiful hymn, “Amazing grace how great thou art, I was once lost and now I am found. I was blind and now I can see”. 

What makes us blind today? 

It’s because often our eyes are being closed from recognizing Christ. He is everywhere doing miracles and wonders. He is with us today and we don’t need to run to a desert or to mountain tops or to anywhere. He is with us always. Yes, He is passing by us every day.  

What happened to the disciples on the way to Emmaus? Even though Christ Himself came and joined them, since their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. It’s because they were filled with sadness and they were filled with everyday worldly things and they didn’t have faith in the Resurrection of Christ. What happened to Thomas when all the apostles said, “We have seen the Lord and He is indeed risen”. Since doubt and questions filled his heart, he didn’t believe in Christ.  

But in today’s gospel, we meet with Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, a socially rejected man. People kept away from him saying, “Because his sins, God punished him and made him blind and because of his sins, his own family didn’t want to associate with him and thus he became a beggar. He was an outcast and reject.  

Though he was physically blind, he was spiritually alive and was longing to see again. When he heard that Christ the Lord was passing by, he began to shout saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”. 

As he cried aloud, everybody tried to stop him saying, you are a sinner, you are blind, and you are a beggar and stop calling him. Do not bother Him and do not come near Him and so on. Then what happened, he began to shout even more, saying, “Jesus, Son of David....have mercy on me”.  

The Lord hears the cry of the poor. He will never abandon anyone. As you come to Him with faith, you will receive blessing upon blessing and healing upon healing. Nothing is impossible with our loving Savior. He is our God and He loves us with His unconditional love. 

Then Christ Himself stopped and looked at him intently and said, “Son, what can I do for you?” 

Jesus, let me see again. I want to see the light and Christ said, “Go, your faith has made you well”.  

The bible uses the word ‘Immediately”. Yes, without any condition or demand, the man gained his sight and began to see and glorify God in Christ. 

The very word ‘Jesus’ has so much power and as we pronounce His name, all our challenges, pain, failure and suffering will disappear. So, let us call Him, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me” Amen