10-28-2018: 29th Sunday OT: “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church
2616 Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent request of the blind men, “Have mercy on us, Son of David” or “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” has been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Healing infirmities or forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: “Your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
2667 This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.” It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6–11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior’s mercy.

From “Springs of Mercy” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (SM-114:7-8)
7) Let Me watch over you to protect you. I will give you grazing in juicy pastures; I will lead you to fountains of life. I will seek favorable shelters for you where you can rest from your work and take cover from the heat of summer and the rigors of winter. I will hold you in My arms, in My bosom.
8) If you are blind, I will give you sight. I will heal you when you are sick; I will take you where you cannot go. I will feed you if you are hungry; I will wait for you when you cannot follow Me. If you fall through weakness, I will strengthen you; if you are stubborn and disobedient, I will correct you. If you are on the verge of getting lost, I will guide you and I will defend you when wolves attack you. If you want to escape from Me, I will put you in chains with the sweet bonds of My love.

From “Door to Heaven” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (DH-22:10)
10) Speak about the blind man of Jericho, who not only received the ability to see but had Me for the first object of his vision. And in the healing of another blind man, note that the strength of his vision gradually increased as his faith increased. In a similar manner, as men receive Communion, they get to know Me more intimately and listen from the depths of their hearts to My supreme teachings. I, being the Teacher, increase the light in the minds of those who receive Me, so that they can penetrate more into the depths of My doctrine. This doctrine, a seed from Heaven, can fall, as I have indicated, sometimes on fertile soil and will produce a hundredfold, while at other times on the road and other times among brambles and thorns… Therefore, this growth of faith -sometimes subjective and other times objective- depends largely on their cooperation with grace.