Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Jeremiah 31:7-9/ Psalm 126/Hebrews 5:1-6/Mark 10:46-52 THEME: a God who intervenes

The liturgical texts this Sunday emphasize the efficacy of God’s intervention. God is effective by making numerous children of Israel return from exile to their beloved homeland (First Reading). With God’s effective power, Jesus Christ restores sight to the blind man Bartimaeus, who overcomes all obstacles and thus fulfils his great desire to see (Gospel). God’s salvific efficacy is made especially manifest in Christ, the High Priest, who saves human beings from ignorance and pain, and frees them from their sins. In every age and time, God has never ceased intervening in the life of His people. His loving presence is always felt by those who recognize their need for him. In first reading of today the Israelites were living in exile after being conquered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. After many years of being away, they are allowed to return to their native land at the hand of God who delivers them. This return is a good news and reason to shout for joy (31:7). God never forgets his people and He intervenes in the lives of the remnant. That God intervenes in the life of those who recognize their need for him cannot be over-emphasised for the Lord invites the Israelites to " Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob... Give praise and say, 'save o Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel" (Jeremiah 31:7). The mention of remnant presupposes that even in the most useless situations, God never forgets his covenant with his people. Indeed, God's own hands will lead them back to their own soil whether healthy or strong, whether those in labour or with child, God's promise never ceases no matter our situations. Then he assures them that He Himself will lead them back for He says, " ...I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I have become a father to Israel" (Jeremiah 31:9). The readings of today give us clearly three prerequisites of God’s intervention in our lives namely: 1) Every Christian is called to believe and hope. Those who had been exiled from Babylon could not forget God’s wonders in the history of their people. God had shown the strength of his hand in the Exodus and in the conquest of the Promised Land. They believe and trust that God will once again act effectively in their favor, although they do not know when or how. Bartimaeus has immense faith in the fact that Jesus, the Messiah and the descendant of David, can cure him of his blindness. This is why he cries out fearlessly and boldly, "Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me." The Jews believed that God had granted the High Priest, on the feast of Yom Kippur, the power to forgive the sins of all the people. And we Christians believe with absolute certainty that Jesus Christ, our High Priest, destroyed the world’s sins on the Cross. It is impossible for God to manifest his power in those who do not believe in it. 2) we are called to recognise our need for God. The Jews in exile knew perfectly well that they could not get back home on their own. Bartimaeus was very aware that he could do nothing to recover his sight. We Christians and Jews are convinced that only God can forgive sins. The self-sufficient do not feel the need for God’s power, and will never be able to be the witnesses of his efficacy in people’s lives and in history. 3) Be consistent in your need for God. If we accept God’s power in our life, we must accept being consistent with its requirements. In other words, as Christians we must be a sort of shop window displaying God’s effective action in us. The Jews exiled from Babylon started walking towards Palestine and Bartimaeus followed Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. Christians have not only been redeemed by Christ, the High Priest, but they also live as redeemed beings; enjoy your freedom in Christ and stop being a wanderer in your Father's house. Lord, let me see again! Bartimaeus, the blind man, is the figure and symbol of the disciples of Jesus at that historical time in which Jesus passed through Jericho, and at all times. Confronted with the mystery of the Cross and of ignominious death, we Christians often experience Bartimaeus´ blindness, his drifting, his poverty. "Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road." There are so many Bartimaeuses in our time, in the face of the great mystery of pain and innocent suffering! There is a lot of blindness in human beings when confronted with the injustice of suffering, as if suffering weren´t the apex of human perfection. Many of us are very cautious when confronted with the idea of walking with Christ towards the city of pain and death. We remain motionless in the territory of our ego, we lack the will to start walking towards the land of other people´s pain. We are in need, in great need of someone - or better yet Someone - to open our eyes and drag us out of our immobility. After all what is the purpose of having eyes that cannot see? A Christian is one who is not afraid to suffer; he says "yes" to health and well-being, to suffering and tribulations. The "yes" of the Christian is a "yes" to the mystery of God's Love, and for those who love God, all things contribute to their good. May the Lord allow all of us Christians to repeat often, "Lord, let me see again!" So that by seeing I may believe, and by believing I may firmly follow your footsteps towards the Cross. In conclusion, he who believes in Christ and follows in his footsteps is a Christian. The following of Christ is not the following of a doctrine like that of Pythagoras, of Aristotle or of Zeno. One who follows a way of life traced out in ancient manuscripts, following the great moral teachers of the East and West, is not a Christian. The Christian follows a person, the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Moreover, the Christian is one who lends Jesus Christ his human nature, so that the Lord can make himself present in today´s world. In other words, being a Christian is being the transparent image of Christ for others. Are we Christians a transparent image of Christ? Are you a transparent image of Christ in your family, in your parish, among your friends? Or are you a disfigured image of Jesus Christ? Taking our Christian vocation seriously has been a historical imperative from the beginning of Christianity. What can I do to be a transparent image of Christ in every place and circumstance? Let us build a chain of transparent images of Christ so that the world, our world, may be saved by the one and only Savior.