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Jeremiah 31: 7-9
Psalm 126
Hebrews 5: 1-6
Mark 10: 46-52

Dear Preachers: Well the first reading from Jeremiah is certainly a delight to hear. It also has some very pointed "to do's" in it; but the commands are not onerous or burdensome. The reading is not a call to perform some exacting religious ritual, make great sacrifices or construct a vast and expensive house of worship to please a demanding God. No, the commands from the prophet are quite to the contrary. The faithful are to, "Shout with joy...exult...and praise" God. That's it? That's all?

Yes, because those being addressed have been slaves in exile and are too weak to do anything on their own. They can't get out of their slavery, and even if they could, they are in no condition to make the trip "back from the land of the north." God, and God alone, is restoring Israel and Judah. Notice who those returnees "the remnant of Israel," are---the most vulnerable of the nation. What kind of reconstruction project is this, when the "workers"coming back to rebuild the nation are among the most vulnerable, "...the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child..."? How can these people do such work and then lead the nation once it is rebuilt?

We have to remember that this is biblical prophecy and so the main "laborer" in this project of restoration is God. This is not merely a human construction job, not a rebuilding from the ruins, but a divinely inspired, completely new creation. From what is not--- God will make a nation. But we cannot ignore the human potential in this national restoration, it has the seeds with which God will work. Dianne Bergant (cf. below, page 384) notes: "Mothers and pregnant women may be vulnerable, but they are also symbols of fecundity and hope. In their bodies they hold the promise of the future. As they leave the land of their exile behind, this remnant carries within itself the possibilities of new beginnings."

While we note the upbeat nature of this reading and its tone of triumph and deliverance there is one "small detail" to keep in mind. The reading may sound like it is celebrating a past event and an accomplished fact, but the victory hasn't taken place yet! This is an oracle, a statement of hope from Jeremiah, who if truth be told, is not often so optimistic in his proclamations of what God is planning for the people.

The prophet is giving the conquered people a vision of what is not yet, but what will be. God has not forgotten them in their exile; will take them back to their homeland and will restore the nation. In all this, God will use the most unlikely "rebuilders" for the project, a few poor ones, so that there will be no mistaking who is the one at work. Trusting that this vision will come to past, the prophet is already calling people to put confidence in God and to begin praising God as if it were already an accomplished fact. Is this what St. Paul would call having hope against hope?

Having reflected on Jeremiah's prophecy we cannot miss the allusions in Mark's gospel today: what had been promised to our ancestors, is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus has drawn together a band of motley disciples and crowds of the neediest and most unlikely "nation builders." They are traveling with the Lord. Through Jesus, we have been observing that God is performing the very wonders Jeremiah had foretold. Today, on the road, a blind man is given his sight. We disciples, who have been given sight through our baptism, have also come to see our God present in Jesus and fulfilling the promise of restoration made by Jeremiah and the prophets.

What a contrast story this cure of Bartimaeus is! If the road trip with Jesus has shown anything, it is that the disciples he is trying to teach are the blind ones. The inner circle of disciples has been missing the point, but Bartimaeus, while still blind, gets it. Jesus is not some ordinary country preacher first described to Bartimaeus as, "Jesus of Nazareth." Nazareth was a backwater in the eyes of most people, and people did not expect greatness from anyone coming from there. So, to call Jesus a Nazorean was a putdown and condescending reference. It is the blind man who really sees and calls the passing preacher, "Jesus, son of David."

Bartimaeus is more insightful than Jesus' intimates and is showing qualities Jesus has been looking for in his disciples: he will not let the crowds silence his public proclamation. Bartimaeus leaves behind his "cloak" to go to Jesus; aren't disciples supposed to leave what they have to follow the Lord? (A blind beggar would lose a lot if he couldn't find his cloak again.) The beggar voices what we must voice to the Lord from our darkness, "Master, I want to see." Jesus sends him on his way and Bartimaeus, with new vision, chooses what disciples are invited to choose, to follow Jesus "on the way." The next verse after today's tells us that they entered Jerusalem. The journey is over, the disciples have been trailing, reluctant to follow the path Jesus has been pointing out to them. But the one who receives his sight, now sees where he must go, into Jerusalem where Jesus is going.

These weeks we to have been following Jesus to Jerusalem. As faithful listeners we have been with him and his disciples on their journey, observed Jesus' great works and listened in on his instruction to his closest followers about what discipleship entails. As we have journeyed, Jerusalem has loomed in the distance. There the road will end in total defeat, with Jesus' death and then in total victory, with Jesus' resurrection. Disciples need discerning eyes to perceived what is happening to Jesus and what is all means for us. So, as if to underscore the disciples' failure to understand what Jesus has been teaching them about true discipleship and to emphasize our need for Jesus to open our eyes, lest we too miss the point, the last miracle on the road before entering the city is the cure of the blind beggar Bartimaeus.

If we are to keep faith with Jesus on our particular road of discipleship, on our way to Jerusalem, we are going to need him to give us sight to guide us each day along the twists and turns that our journey takes. While we are all trying to follow the same Jesus, each of us follows a unique path. We have been struggling all our lives, wrestling with the awareness that our way is not always Jesus' way and that if we follow our own ways and self interests, we will find ourselves choosing darkness over light.

We do not have the light we need on our own. The approach of the national elections is a reminder of that. We have a tendency to vote out of our own interests and priorities. We can lose sight of the larger picture and what effects our choices will have, not only on local and national affairs, but on international levels as well. American political decisions affect people all over the planet; indeed, they affect the very health of the planet itself. We need vision on the road.

We must choose leaders who will help those in our nation and world to get the food and clean water they need for themselves and their families and to have health care, education and employment. While we want safe borders, our biblical values call us to see the stranger in our midst and to offer hospitality to our newest arrivals, making sure they have decent housing and basic needs met. Low wage workers also need legal support to receive a living wage for their families. We are the largest importer of foreign resources and manufactured goods in the world. This election time we want our leaders to negotiate trade agreements that will protect foreign workers and the natural resources of poor countries.

We realize that today's gospel is not just a story of one blind beggar outside Jericho who received sight from Jesus. We are all on the road and we need to be given vision so that our choices reflect Jesus' priorities. Just as Jeremiah promised, God has come to deliver us from exile and take us home. Through Jesus our eyes have been opened so we can see the direction he walks and can do what Bartimaeus did, he "...followed him on the way."

Bergant, Dianne with Richard Fragomeni. Preaching the New Lectionary. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2000. This commentary on the readings for feasts and Sundays in each of the liturgical years takes a literary-liturgical perspective. So, one not only gets the commentary on the text but also the setting within the liturgical year.

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