30th Sunday Year B - Homily 1

Homily 1 - 2006

The blind man – Everything conspired to tell him he was useless: he couldn’t work (and there was no Centrelink, no Social Services); he couldn’t support himself and he couldn’t support a family – if he had one (in fact, he would have been one more mouth for them to feed).  He missed most of what was going on. He was a nuisance – begging, perhaps an insistent beggar. Had he ever got to Jerusalem, he would have been barred from the temple.

Why was he blind? Had he sinned? probably most of those who knew him thought he had. Did he have friends? He lived on the margins, hardly even a half life. When he called out to Jesus, people quickly told him to shut up: He didn’t matter! Totally discounted! But he didn’t shut up. He shouted more loudly.

Why was he healed, and a lot of other blind persons apparently not? At least we hear little about many others.  Whatever others thought of him, he had still, apparently, preserved a sense of his own dignity. He had not written himself off as useless.  He hoped for change. He hoped for justice. He hoped for dignity.

And somehow he trusted that Jesus shared that sense of his dignity, too – that Jesus, too, wanted change and justice and dignity.  He trusted that Jesus did not discount him, did not share people’s sense of his uselessness, and would not put him on the margins.  He was right. With such trust as his, he had only to meet someone like Jesus, empowered by God, and his life would be different.  Jesus called him. He answered swiftly, trusting totally in him.  He threw off his cloak – all he possessed, and, with only his need, his hope and his trust, he stood up and let himself be led to Jesus.

Unlike the rich man of a few weeks ago, the one who walked away sad, the blind man did not ask: What must I do to inherit eternal life? He was not full of himself. Indeed, he had emptied himself, and pleaded only, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.  Jesus simply asked him: What do you want me to do for you? He got him to articulate his desire; and then went on to say: Your faith has saved you, your faith has provided the basis for your sight. He could see, and he followed Jesus on the way – the way of discipleship,. He had already lived his own Calvary - so for him the way led to new and unimaginable life.

The way to life is pretty much the same for us: a sense of our own dignity, a clear awareness of our own need, a strong hope that change is possible and an irrepressible refusal to be put off by the world’s discouragement, an unshakeable trust that Jesus shares a sense of our true dignity, and that Jesus, too, wants change. a clear, quiet trust that Jesus wants to make the difference.

Lord, that I might see! That I might throw away my cloak, my masks, my fears, that I might follow you along the way!