God is Closeness, Compassion, and Tender Love

Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday of Year B

by Fr. Tommy Lane

We live in a time of great contrasts. There is rapid scientific progress but there is, it seems to me, more unhappiness than ever. There is more wealth than ever but there is more discontent than ever. There are more possibilities of communication than ever but there is more isolation than ever. Have we really made progress? It depends on how you define progress. What has gone wrong? As a society, a country, a world, we have in many ways abandoned God. When one abandons God, we cannot expect to make progress as humanity. We can make progress with all sorts of scientific advances, but when we abandon God, we cannot progress as humanity.

Bartimaeus in the Gospel, on the other hand, knew the answer to his difficulty—Jesus (Mark 10:46-52). Bartimaeus is a delightful character. He was blind and sitting by the side of the road begging. He cried out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” He trusted Jesus enough to call Jesus by name, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me,” just like the good thief crucified beside Jesus who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (see also Luke 17:13) People told Bartimaeus to be quiet but he shouted all the louder. Bartimaeus achieved his aim: Jesus stopped. Now the people who had been trying to shut him up, encouraged Bartimaeus to go to Jesus. Jesus healed him and Bartimaeus, who had been excluded by the crowd, was now included as he followed Jesus on the road after receiving his sight back.

Bartimaeus’ encounter with Jesus is delightful. He reminds me of his fellow townsman from Jericho, Zacchaeus whom the people of the same town also tried to prevent meeting Jesus, not letting him in front of them even though he was short, so he had to climb a tree (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus’ ministry is a story of many encounters with many people and in these encounters we learn how Jesus treats us. Pope Francis, in his fourth encyclical published on Thursday (2024), on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, wrote about these encounters of Jesus with people:

He seeks people out, approaches them, ever open to an encounter with them. We see it when he stops to converse with the Samaritan woman at the well where she went to draw water (cf. Jn 4:5-7). We see it when, in the darkness of night, he meets Nicodemus, who feared to be seen in his presence (cf. Jn 3:1-2). We marvel when he allows his feet to be washed by a prostitute (cf. Lk 7:36-50) . . . or again when he chides the disciples for their indifference and quietly asks the blind man on the roadside, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mk 10:51). Christ shows that God is closeness, compassion, and tender love. (Pope Francis Dilexit Nos §35)

What, in practical terms, does this mean for us? Pope Francis wrote:

If we find it hard to trust others because we have been hurt by lies, injuries and disappointments, the Lord whispers in our ear: “Take heart, son!” (Mt 9:2), “Take heart, daughter!” (Mt 9:22). He encourages us to overcome our fear and to realize that, with him at our side, we have nothing to lose. To Peter, in his fright, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31). Nor should you be afraid. Let him draw near and sit at your side. There may be many people we distrust, but not him. Do not hesitate because of your sins. Keep in mind that many sinners “came and sat with him” (Mt 9:10) (Pope Francis Dilexit Nos §37)

Speaking of welcoming sinners, Pope Francis quotes a letter of St. Thérèse of Lisieux:

When I see Mary Magdalene walking up before the many guests, washing with her tears the feet of her adored Master, whom she is touching for the first time, I feel that her heart has understood the abysses of love and mercy of the heart of Jesus, and, sinner though she is, [his] heart of love was disposed not only to pardon her but to lavish on her the blessings of his divine intimacy, to lift her to the highest summits of contemplation. (Pope Francis Dilexit Nos §136, quoting Letter 247 to l’Abbé Maurice Bellière, June 21, 1897)

Again, on the mercy of Jesus, Pope Francis gives us another quotation from St. Thérèse:

If I had committed all possible crimes, I would always have the same confidence; I feel that this whole multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into a fiery furnace. (Pope Francis Dilexit Nos §137, quoting Last Conversations. Yellow Notebook, 11 July 1897, 6)

We are making all sorts of progress with all sorts of scientific advances but abandoning God and so we are not progressing as humanity; we are regressing in many ways. On the other hand, Bartimaeus was a man of faith and found the answer in Jesus and got his sight back. Pope Francis, in his encyclical on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus published on Thursday, reminds us that Jesus wants to approach us and is always open to encounter us as he did Bartimaeus.

© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024

This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.

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