It's Our Story, Too
Rather than use a story or a specific image to connect our story to the story of the Gospel, perhaps we could employ another strategy to get at what the Word of God is saying to us today.William Callahan, a spiritual writer of some stature, has proposed that a very good way to pray the Scriptures is to imagine ourselves in the Scripture story -- a rather right brain way of allowing the Word of God to speak to us.He suggests, in his little publication, Noisy Contemplation,* that we enter the story, that we become one of the characters in the story. In today's Gospel, for instance, we could reflect on our role as the disciples, as the larger crowd, as those trying to silence Bartimaeus, as those extending Jesus' invitation, as the blind beggar himself, even as Jesus. Callahan proposes that such an exercise helps us enter more deeply into the story and connect our lives with the story of Jesus.Though entering each character in turn would be helpful and something that would be very worthwhile this coming week, today let's just take on the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. The English translation of the story tells us the name means “son of Timaeus,” which doesn't tell us much, except that “Timaeus” means "the honored one," "the one most beloved." That gives us deeper insight into the story. Though blind and a beggar, he is called "son of the one most beloved." Remember, too, that catastrophic illness in Jesus' day was considered the result of sin. There is, then, something to begin our reflection with if we become Bartimaeus: sinful, poor, unable to see, and yet "child of the most beloved."In him we now see ourselves in the context of this Eucharist. For we come here with all our brokenness -- our particular form of blindness, our own particular form of poverty, but nonetheless "beloved" ourselves because of our Baptism. For some of us, there are those who would tell us to be quiet, that we have no right to approach this table. (Sometimes that voice even comes from within ourselves.) Gratefully, there are others who echo Jesus’ unconditional invitation: "Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."Can you envision it? You step forward, eager yet apprehensive, coming face to face with the one some have begun to call the “Son of David,” the promised Messiah. There you stand before him. And then he speaks to you. Make no mistake about the significance of the question Jesus asks you: "What do you want me to do for you?" Are you surprised by the question? The question has been asked of YOU. It isn't "What can I do for your spouse? Your children? Your friend? Your employer? He wants to do something for YOU. You look carefully at yourself: at your poverty, your blindness. You come to understand that what Jesus sees is that you are the child of the most beloved. God loves you! He waits for an answer.May I ask you to pause for a moment now, close your eyes, and listen to the question again? Let’s take a few moments before answering the question Jesus is asking of you and me today and place ourselves in dialog with Jesus. Jesus: "What do you want me to do for you?"Your response:Jesus says in reply "Go your way; your faith has saved you."Your response:Immediately you receive your sight and follow him on the way.Noisy Contemplation: Deep Prayer for Busy People. William Callahan,
Hyattsville, MD: Quixote Center, 1994
