I Want to See

I Want to See
October 28, 2018    30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

As many of you know, one of my many vices is watching movies.  And among my favorite ones are children’s animated feature films – yes, cartoons, more or less, only longer.  Recently, the second film in “The Incredibles” franchise was released to video, which encouraged me to go back and watch the original.  (For those of you not familiar with The Incredibles, it is about a family of superheroes in a world which doesn’t think it needs superheroes anymore and so has made the use of their powers illegal – kind of like what’s happening to Christians.  By the way, I’m particularly fond of the show because the star was named after me: “Bob Incredible”.  He’s obviously my favorite superhero.)

There’s a scene in the movie where Bob, who was just fired from yet another job for being super, comes home really depressed.  As he pulls into his driveway and gets out of his car, he sees a little kid sitting on a tricycle - staring at him.  The day before, the same kid saw Bob hoist his car above his head. 

This time, Bob says to him: “Well, what are *you* waiting for?”
The kid replies, “I don't know. Something amazing, I guess.”
Then Bob sighs and says to him, “Me too, kid.” Me too.

Which leads me to ask the question:  What are we waiting for from God?

Do we see the amazing things that happen around us every day? Are we so busy looking for those nature-defying miracles that we miss seeing the real miracles that God gives us?  Are we blind to Jesus and the amazing things He does in our lives just because it appears that He’s not doing something amazingly super?

I’d like to share with you a couple of brief stories that occurred recently.

The first one has to do with a friend of mine who participates in a weekly prayer group with me.  Last week he told the group of us about a dream he had about his mother a week earlier.  He didn’t remember the details from the dream, but only that he had awoke with a strong sense of peace.  But his wife told him that he had been calling out his mother’s name in his sleep and that he appeared to be carrying on a conversation with her.  Later that morning he found out from one of his siblings that his mother, who I think lived in California and who suffered from dementia, had just passed away.  My friend said that there was no question in his mind that his mother had been telling him “good-bye” that evening.

About the same time the daughter of another friend of mine passed away.  She had been battling ovarian cancer and was on hospice, so he and the rest of his children knew that she only had a short time left.  Sadly, she passed away a bit more suddenly that they expected. But my friend took consolation in the fact that, amazingly, the day she died just happened to be the feast day of her patron saint, Hedwig.  The very next day, my friend was with his son-in-law and his grandson when a rainbow suddenly appeared in the sky and he was able to get a picture of them with the rainbow behind them.  By the way, this was in Tucson, which normally doesn’t get much rain. What was more amazing, though, was that often whenever someone close to him passed away, a rainbow managed to appear in the sky.  Coincidences?  I don’t believe in coincidences.

Are we blind to the amazing signs that God sends our way?

In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the blind Bartimaeus.  We see this story in both Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels as well, although Mark is the only one who names him.  Just another blind beggar, one of many one assumes, sitting on the edge of the road near Jericho, waiting. 

But, in this passage, who is really blind?  Not just physically, but spiritually as well?

Jesus has by now gathered quite a following in his ministry.  In all three gospels, he has already revealed to his disciples three times that he’s going to Jerusalem to die, but they can’t see it.  The multitude that are following Him, for the most part, appear to be only concerned for themselves as they try to silence Bartimaeus.  They’ve seen the many miracles that Jesus has done, but they cannot see Jesus for who He is.

And yet Bartimaeus, who cannot see physically, is one of the few who does recognize Jesus for who He is – a descendant of King David, a king and savior of his people, the Messiah.  He initially sees Jesus through the eyes of faith.  And when Jesus calls him, Bartimaeus leaves his cloak – his security, probably the most valuable of his meager possessions – behind. Once his eyes are fully opened physically, Bartimaeus then leaves the rest of his existing life behind to follow Jesus.

So, which of the characters in this gospel are we, today?  Are we one of his disciples whose primary concern is our own place in an earthly kingdom granted to us by God?  Are we one of the multitude of followers of Jesus who seek from him some sort of special favor because we have seen what He has done for others and want him to do the same for us?

Or are we like Bartimaeus, seeking Jesus through the eyes of faith, knowing that to answer the call of Jesus means leaving our security behind and following Him wherever He goes?

To truly see Jesus as He is demands a change in us.  Every day that we walk in blindness to the Kingdom of God around us, He is passing by, waiting for us to call out to Him.  He is asking us “What do you want for me to do for you?”  Let us call out to Him.  Let us sing out, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.  I want to see You.”  Just be ready to leave your old life behind, for Jesus asks for nothing less.