Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time/B
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Mk 10, 46-52) in Jericho Jesus encounters Bartimaeus, blind, sitting by the roadside begging. Bartimaeus, after crying out “Son of David, have mercy on me!”, called by Jesus, stands up and, “throwing off his cloak”, goes to Jesus. It is precisely here that a profound dialogue takes place that touches our lives. In fact, Jesus asks Bartimaeus a question, and he is asking the same question of each of us personally: “What do you want me to do for you?”.
To really answer Jesus’ question, without superficiality, we need to be in touch with our needs, our aspirations, our deep desires, our sorrows, our unresolved issues. With this question, Jesus leads us to the root, to the essential dimensions of our lives, beyond any specific difficulties. He leads us “beyond” the symptoms of our troubles in order to grasp a cause, an origin that we often avoid facing. “Beyond” our punctual need to be recognised, to be loved, “beyond” our relational difficulties, “beyond” our recurring physical ills, “beyond” our anger and dissatisfaction, “beyond” our conjectures to justify our inabilities or weaknesses.
In essence, Jesus is gently asking us to “throw off our cloak” as Bartimaeus did. This “cloak” that only weighs down our lives, that defends us, but at the same time prevents us from really living, that makes us comfortable and seated but leaves us blind and, deep down, incapable of living in reality.
Without a cloak we can be in touch with ourselves, regain our sight, slowly become the men and women we can and should be.
The Gradual of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 26 (Ps 26:4) with the following text:
“Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram:
ut inhabitem in domo Domini omnibus diebus vitae meae.
Ut videam voluptatem Domini:
et protegar a templo sancto eius.”
(One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.
To gaze in delight upon the Lord’s beauty,
and to be sheltered in his holy temple).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation is by the Schola Gregoriana Pragensis conducted by David Eben. The musical track can be found on the CD ‘Liturgical Year. Gregorian Chant’ published by Supraphon in 1997.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
