HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time,

October 25, 2015

The three readings for this Sunday present us with God’s compassion, his fatherhood, which is definitively revealed in Jesus.

The prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of national disaster, while the people are being deported by their enemies, announces that “the Lord will save his people, the remnant of Israel” (31:7). And why does he do this? Because he is a Father (cf. v. 9): and as a Father, he cares for his children, accompanies them on their journey, and supports “the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the woman who has just given birth” (31:8). His fatherhood opens for them an accessible path, a path of consolation after much tears and much bitterness. If the people remain faithful, if they persevere in seeking God even in a foreign land, God will transform their imprisonment into freedom, their solitude into communion: what the people sow in tears today, tomorrow they will reap in joy (cf. Ps 125:6).

With the psalm, we too expressed the joy that is a fruit of the Lord's salvation: “Our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with shouts of joy” (v. 2). A believer is someone who has experienced God's saving action in their own life. And we, as pastors, have experienced what it means to sow with difficulty, sometimes in tears, and to rejoice in the grace of a harvest that always surpasses our strength and abilities.

The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews presented us with the compassion of Jesus. He too "clothed himself in weakness" (cf. 5:2), to have compassion for those who are ignorant and in error. Jesus is the High Priest, holy and innocent, but at the same time, he is the High Priest who shared in our weaknesses and was tempted in every way, just as we are, except for sin (cf. 4:15). For this reason, he is the mediator of the new and definitive covenant that gives us salvation.

Today's Gospel is directly linked to the first reading: just as the people of Israel were freed through God's fatherhood, so too was Bartimaeus freed through Jesus' compassion. Jesus has just left Jericho. Although he has only just begun the most important journey, the one leading to Jerusalem, he still stops to respond to Bartimaeus' cry. He is moved by his request; he becomes involved in his situation. He is not content simply to give him alms, but wants to meet him personally. He gives him neither directions nor answers, but asks him a question: "What do you want me to do for you?" (Mark 10:51). This might seem like a pointless question: what could a blind man desire if not sight? Yet, with this request made face-to-face, direct but respectful, Jesus shows that he wants to listen to our needs. He desires with each of us an exchange grounded in life, in real-life situations, which nothing excludes before God. After the healing, the Lord said to this man, “Your faith has healed you” (v. 52). It is beautiful to see how Christ admires Bartimaeus’s faith, trusting in him. He believes in us, much more than we believe in ourselves.

There is an interesting detail. Jesus asks his disciples to go and call Bartimaeus. They address the blind man using two expressions that only Jesus uses in the rest of the Gospel. First, they say, “Take heart!”—a word that literally means “have faith, be courageous!” Indeed, only an encounter with Jesus gives a person the strength to face even the most serious situations. The second expression is “Get up!” as Jesus had said to many sick people, taking them by the hand and healing them. His followers do nothing more than repeat Jesus’ encouraging and liberating words, leading directly to him, without sermons. Jesus’ disciples are called to this, today too, especially today: to bring people into contact with the compassionate mercy that saves. When the cry of humanity grows even louder, as it did with Bartimaeus, there is no other response than to make Jesus' words our own and, above all, to imitate his heart. Situations of misery and conflict are, for God, opportunities for mercy. Today is a time of mercy!

But there are certain temptations for those who follow Jesus. Today's Gospel highlights at least two. None of the disciples stops, as Jesus does. They continue walking, they move forward as if nothing were amiss. If Bartimaeus is blind, they are deaf: his problem is not their problem. This can be our risk: faced with continuous problems, it is better to move forward, without letting ourselves be disturbed. In this way, like these disciples, we are with Jesus, but we do not think like Jesus. We are in his group, but we lose the openness of heart, we lose wonder, gratitude, and enthusiasm, and we risk becoming "routine in grace." We can talk about him and work for him, but live far from his heart, which is inclined toward the one who is wounded. Therein lies the temptation: a "spirituality of illusion": we can walk through the deserts of humanity without seeing what is really there, but rather what we would like to see; We are capable of constructing worldviews, but we do not accept what the Lord places before our eyes. A faith that does not know how to take root in people's lives remains barren and, instead of oases, it creates more deserts.

There is a second temptation, that of falling into a "programmed faith." We can walk with God's people, but we already have our itinerary, where everything fits in: we know where to go and how long it will take; everyone must respect our pace, and every inconvenience bothers us. We risk becoming like "many of those people" in the Gospel who lose patience and rebuke Bartimaeus. Shortly before, they had rebuked the children (cf. 10:13), and now the blind beggar: whoever is a hindrance or doesn't measure up is to be excluded. Jesus, on the contrary, wants to include, especially those who are marginalized and who cry out to him. These people, like Bartimaeus, have faith, because knowing that one needs salvation is the best way to encounter Jesus.

And finally, Bartimaeus begins to follow Jesus along the road (cf. v. 52). Not only does he regain his sight, but he also joins the community of those who walk with Jesus. Dear Synod Brothers, we have walked together. I thank you for the journey we have shared, our gaze fixed on the Lord and on our brothers and sisters, seeking the paths that the Gospel points out to our time to proclaim the mystery of family love. Let us continue on the path the Lord desires. Let us ask him for a healed and saved gaze, one that knows how to shed light, because it recalls the splendor that illuminated it. Without ever allowing ourselves to be clouded by pessimism and sin, let us seek and see the glory of God that shines forth in the living.

MASS FOR THE CONCLUSION

OF THE 14TH ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS