In today’s gospel, Bartimaeus demonstrates a faith that can heal him. He cries out to the Lord as the Lord! Yes, he believes already in the great power of God in his midst and he beseeches Him. But the power the Lord displays is really flowing from Bartimaeus’ faith. He already possesses that which can heal him, set him free, open him up to proclaim the goodness of God.
This month—and continuing for the next 12 months, we are invited to enter into a YEAR OF FAITH. From the power of faith demonstrated by Bartimaeus, we witness that faith has the power to heal us, transform us, give us sight and insight…and so much more. Throughout this year, we are invited to re-capture and re-kindle the fire of faith within us and around us: a faith that flows from God, through the Church, and into our world and our daily lives. As we are reinvigorated, we then also let our faith spill out into the world around us, thus enlivening faith in others who witness our profession and our action and our very being.
Clearly, one of the agents of faith today is through the priesthood of Jesus Christ: yes, some serve at the Altar—beset by weakness, needing purification and renewal, called to make offerings for many (cf. second reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews); but each and every one of us who have been baptized take on the mission of evangelization…being agents who bring the gospel—the Good News—to those who sit at the side of the road, who seek this Christ who is Lord, to those whose faith can become ever more alive and faithfully fruitful.
May God’s Holy Spirit bless us with protection, with courage, and with loving hope.
