Sunday, October 25, 2009

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 10:46-52
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD ASK FOR IF YOU HAD ONE WISH? THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE. ONE WISH, IT WILL BE GRANTED. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE THREE WISHES GRANTED, OR TEN, OR TWENTY. AND IT CAN'T BE A WISH THAT YOU WILL HAVE SUPERPOWERS, OR WILL LIVE FOREVER. YOU HAVE ONE WISH, A LEGITIMATE WISH, A WISH THAT DOES NOT ALTER THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A LIMITED, MORTAL HUMAN BEING.
AS YOU THINK ABOUT THIS, THINK ABOUT THE CATEGORIES OF WISHES. DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR THE WORLD? AN END TO WAR, OR STARVATION, OR POLLUTION, OR GLOBAL WARMING? DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE – THAT YOUR COUSIN WOULD BE CURED OF CANCER; THAT YOUR SON WOULD GET INTO HARVARD? OR DO YOU WISH FOR SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF – A BETTER JOB, A RETURN TO HEALTH IF YOU ARE ILL, TO BECOME YOUNGER IF YOU ARE OLD; TRUE LOVE.
THE BLIND MAN CRIED OUT TO JESUS, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY ON ME!” AND JESUS REPLIED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
MAYBE THE ANSWER SEEMS OBVIOUS TO US. WHAT BLIND PERSON WOULD NOT WANT HIS SIGHT? BUT IN JESUS' TIME MANY OF THOSE WHO BEGGED FOR A LIVING ACTUALLY VALUED THEIR HANDICAPS. THERE ARE STILL PLACES IN THE WORLD WHERE A CHILD OF A FAMILY WHO LIVE OFF OF BEGGING WILL BE DELIBERATELY CRIPPLED, SO THAT HE WILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE IN THIS PARTICULAR PROFESSION. SOME OF US ARE LIKE THIS. WE HAVE HABITS WHICH CRIPPLE US, ANGER WHICH KEEPS US FROM MOVING FORWARD, JEALOUSY, RESENTMENT – WE CAN ALL THINK OF SOMETHING ABOUT US THAT WE WOULD NEVER LET GO OF. AND THAT SOMETHING IS HOLDING US BACK, KEEPING US FROM LEADING A FULL AND COMPLETE LIFE, KEEPING US FROM ENJOYING MORE FULLY THAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE WITH JESUS. AND SOMETIMES WE PRAY, “TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!” BUT IN OUR HEART OF HEARTS, WE DON'T REALLY MEAN IT.
JESUS AS GOD MAY HAVE KNOWN WHAT THE MAN REALLY WANTED, BUT AS A HUMAN BEING HE MADE NO PRESUMPTIONS; HE SAID, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?”
THIS BLIND MAN WAS NOT SOMEONE WHO SAW VALUE IN HIS BLINDNESS. HE ONLY SAW HIS BLINDNESS AS A TOTAL DISASTER IN HIS LIFE. HE MADE HIS LIVING BY BEGGING. HE TRIPPED AND STUMBLED AND WALKED INTO WALLS. HE WAS A JOKE TO THE LOCAL TEENAGERS. HE HAD NO CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS, EXCEPT PERHAPS WITH HIS BLOOD RELATIVES; HE LIVED ON CHARITY, BUT HE WISHED HE COULD MAKE A LIVING WITH HIS OWN TALENTS. HIS BLINDNESS MADE HIM LESS THAN HUMAN.
SO WHEN THE BLIND MAN MADE HIS REQUEST, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” HE WAS NOT MERELY ASKING FOR THE GIFT OF VISION – HE WAS ASKING TO BECOME FULLY HUMAN. HE WANTED FULL PARTICIPATION IN LIFE, HE WANTED TO GO FROM BEING AN OBJECT, WHETHER IT WAS THE RECEIVING OF KINDNESS OR CRUELTY FROM OTHER PEOPLE. HE WANTED TO QUIT BEING DEPENDENT, BEING HELPLESS – HE WANTED TO BECOME A SUBJECT, SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF HIS OWN LIFE, HIS OWN DESTINY, SOMEONE WHO COULD CONTROL WHAT WAS AROUND HIM. THE BLIND MAN KNEW THAT GAINING THE GIFT OF SIGHT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BRING ABOUT THIS CHANGE.
ALL OF US WANT THE SAME THING. WE DON'T LIKE TO BE OBJECTS, AND YET, WE SENSE THAT WE ARE – WHEN OUR TAXES ARE RAISED WITHOUT OUR CONSENT; WHEN WE HAVE TO WAIT A FEW HOURS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM TO BE SEEN; WHEN WE ARE CHARGED AN OUTRAGEOUS BILL BY OUR MECHANIC FOR SOMETHING THAT WE HAD TO HAVE DONE. WE FEEL LIKE AN OBJECT WHEN SOMEONE SHOWS US DISRESPECT, OR DISHONESTY, OR TAKES US FOR GRANTED. IT'S HARD TO GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT SENSING THAT WE ARE AN OBJECT TO SOMEONE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT COMES FROM OUR OWN TALENTS, OUR OWN EFFORTS, WE GET A GLIMPSE OF OURSELF AS A SUBJECT. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN WE FEEL JOY OR HAPPINESS, WE HAVE JUST ACTED AS A SUBJECT. BUT THOSE MOMENTS SEEM FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
IN ALL HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, EVEN IN A GREAT MARRIAGE, HAPPINESS IS RELATED TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH EACH PARTNER FEELS THAT HE OR SHE IS A SUBJECT. AND THAT FEELING OF BEING A SUBJECT IS GREATLY INFLUENCED BY OUR PERCEPTION THAT WE ARE FREE. AND FREEDOM MEANS CHOICE.
JESUS WANTS YOU AND I TO HAVE FREEDOM; HE WANTS US TO BE PURELY SUBJECT. HE WANTS US TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN, BUT EVEN MORE, HE WANTS US TO FREELY CHOOSE THIS GOAL. AND IF WE ARE FREE TO CHOOSE THIS, WE ARE FREE TO REJECT IT AS WELL. TO JESUS, THERE IS NOTHING OF THE OBJECT ABOUT US; JESUS WILL NEVER COMPEL US, NEVER FORCE US. AND THE ONLY RELATIONSHIP WE CAN HAVE WITH ANOTHER PERSON WHICH COMPLETELY RESPECTS OUR FREEDOM, OUR NATURE AS SUBJECT, IS THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.
THE BLIND MAN WENT TO JESUS, WHO HONORED HIS FREEDOM BY ASKING, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” AND THE BLIND MAN REPLIED, “LORD, I WANT TO SEE!” AND JESUS HELPED HIM BECOME A SUBJECT, HELPED HIM BECOME MORE FREE, MORE CAPABLE OF CONTROLLING HIS OWN LIFE THAN HE HAD BEEN BEFORE. AND IN THAT MORE HUMAN STATE, HE BECOMES MORE CAPABLE OF CHOOSING GOOD, OR CHOOSING EVIL.
SO PERHAPS THAT IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT WOULD WE ANSWER TO THE LORD IF HE ASKED “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” WOULD WE SAY, “MAKE ME MORE FREE?” KNOWING THAT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES GREATER RESPONSIBILITY; WITH GREATER CHOICE COMES GREATER OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE BAD CHOICES; BUT WITH GREATER FREEDOM COMES THE ABILITY TO FREELY CHOOSE GOD, TO FREELY HELP BUILD THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, TO FREELY ENTER INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR MASTER, JESUS. AND IN THE END, THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD DESIRE, SINCE IT IS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
SO LET US SAY TO JESUS, “I WANT TO SEE! I WANT TO BE MORE HUMAN! I WANT TO BE FREE! I WANT TO FREELY CHOOSE YOU, MY LORD.!”