On the evening of 28 October 1958, Angelo Roncalli stepped onto the balcony at St Peter’s as the newly elected Pope John XXIII. Three hundred thousand people in St Peter’s Square greeted him. Later he reflected in his diary: “I remembered Jesus’ warning: ‘Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart’. Dazzled by the television lights, I could see nothing but an amorphous swaying mass. I blessed Rome and the world as though I were a blind man. As I came away I thought of all the cameras and lights that from now on, at every moment, would be directed on me. And I said to myself: if you don’t remain a disciple of the gentle and humble Master, you’ll understand nothing even of temporal realities. Then you will be really blind†(Cited in Peter Hebblethwaite, John XXIII – Pope of the Council, London: HarperCollins, 1984/1994, 287-288).In today’s Gospel – Mark 10:46-52 – we hear of the healing of a blind man, Bartimaeus of Jericho. Together with the healing of a blind man at Bethsaida – see Mark 8:22-26 – we have two bookends, as it were, to a section of the Gospel in which Jesus tries without success to get the disciples to understand him and his mission. Like blind men, they cannot see. Their healing will come eventually through their communion with “the gentle and humble Masterâ€.
The 14th century English hermit and mystic, Richard Rolle (1300-1349), speaks of “the eye of his heartâ€. Is it not true that people who have grown to love each other deeply, “see†their beloved with “the eye of the heartâ€? Love is not blind. Infatuation may well be blind, but not real love. Love sees what hate and resentment, prejudice and bigotry. cynicism and ignorance, cannot see. St Paul speaks of love as the very heart of the human journey, the measure of our humanity. As the heart is healed, so we see more clearly what is real. Though it will only be in heaven that we see with absolute clarity: “now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face†(1 Corinthians 13:12).
The blind man calls out: “Jesus son of David have mercy on me!â€. “Jesus stood still†– an utterly ordinary yet remarkable detail! This poor and desperate man stops Jesus in his tracks. What can we learn about discipleship and the kingdom of God from this moment – Jesus standing still before the beggar?
Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?†This question is addressed to the man’s heart. Mark has already noted that Jesus could see what was in the human heart – see Mark 2:6-8. This should not surprise us. Someone who looks on people, events and things with the eyes of real love, will see the very essence of the other – see also Matthew 12:25 & 22:18, Luke 6:8, 11:17 & 16:15 and John 2:24.
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