Scripture Reflections for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“When Christ gives Bartimaeus his sight, he doesn’t endow him with a unique superpower, but restores to him something which belongs to his life as a human being.”

“Jesus comes to us in the same way, as our companion, but yet He comes to us physically through the people in our lives – our friends, our family, our spouse, our co-workers, strangers…”

"This Sunday’s Gospel passage tells us of the physical healing of a blind man. The gift of sight. Yet it also sets out for us a journey of insight which..."

"The events and teachings recorded by St. Mark are meant to frighten us. True, the Gospels are Good News, and comfort; but nothing in them is meant to make us..."

“Might it not be the case that the order of the world is ultimately the order of the purposes of a good God, a loving God, who has chosen to intervene in history so as to draw human beings to himself? If that is the order of the world, then a miracle might be supremely orderly: it might fit in beautifully with the long-term or structural purposes of the Creator.”

"The character Bartimaeus leaps out from the pages of Mark’s Gospel and stays with us as we go on our way from Sunday to Sunday. He becomes a follower at..."

“It was far, far more important that the man in the story followed Jesus than that he just saw other people and things. Following Jesus’ way, he saw far more.”

"Today’s Gospel relates the cure of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. This is a threshold ‘wonder’. But why ‘threshold’? Because it occurs on the threshold of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. At..."

"Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear the marvelous story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus—an icon of tremendous power and a sacred picture of the spiritual life and the process..."

"Jo is a teacher, educational leader and formation facilitator. She’s a mum, a daughter, a sister, an aunty and a spouse. She completed a MA (Theology) in 2016 focusing on..."

"The story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus is a spiritual icon of enormous power. Bartimaeus is evocative of anyone who, aware of his sin, blindness, and incapacity, hears the..."

"This Sunday’s Gospel presents the extraordinary story of Christ’s healing Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is blind. Christ gives him not only the ability to see the world, but to see the world..."

"The story of Bartimeaus is a model of the spiritual journey. The desire for Christ engenders in us spiritual healing, which is delivered in a profound illumination of Christ’s identity,..."

“Our scriptures, our Christian faith and our baptismal call all remind us that we will always have the opportunity, like Bartimaeus, to throw off our cloaks of blindness and learn to see God’s universal call to us to build communities of security, of justice and enough for all, to love one another.”

“But our God has not ceased to cross our way. He is not yet done with us. At the appointed time he will, he will surely come to meet us on the road where we are lying wretched and seeking for aid.”

“the restoration of Israel was not possible without the restoration of the Davidic King...In the Gospel, we see Jesus called “Son of David,” the king to rule over and restore the twelve tribes of Israel.”

"Our first reading from the prophet Jeremiah treats of a theme that is basic throughout the Bible: the motif of the return from exile. Like two great hinges on which..."