October 24th - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Jer 31:7-9; Heb 5:1-6; Mk 10:46-52)

The imagery of sight and blindness in the readings this week remind us that we are blinded by sin and are in need of Christ’s light in order to follow Him. In modern society, we think of freedom as the absolute ability to do whatever we want, as long as we don’t hurt anyone else. The Catholic understanding of sin and freedom is that we grow in freedom the more that we resist evil and choose what is good. 

The prophet Jeremiah delivers God’s promises to His chosen people. He is a generous God, whose fatherly love does not diminish, even though the people of Israel fail to love him and reverence him in return. God reaches out to the Israelites in order to bring them closer to his heart. Our movement toward God in difficult times is a sign of a deep faith. We can use periods of suffering in our lives as opportunities to strengthen our faith and make honest assessments about where we stand before God.

In the Gospel story this week, we see Bartimaeus throw aside his cloak, spring up, and turn to Jesus. The cloak was among Bartimaeus’s few possessions, and his willingness to throw it aside before Jesus even healed him is a witness to his faith in Jesus’s healing powers, and that he would no longer need the clothes of a beggar.

• What “cloak” in your life prevents you from truly seeking healing from Jesus, and how can you strive to “throw it aside” to grow your faith in Jesus this week?
• In order to desire what is truly good for us, we must be in continual communication with Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and thus shows us the way to our true happiness. How are some ways that you have or could keep in continual communication with Christ?
• Share a time of suffering when you were able to move toward God and deepen your faith.
• In the Gospel, the blind beggar is searching for healing and Jesus says to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” What is it that you would like Jesus to do for you?