Homily - October 25, 2015 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - preached at St. Kateri St. Margaret Mary site 8a and 11a

Daily mass readings for today:  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102515.cfm

            I very much like our new St. Kateri vision and mission statements – they’re concise and to the point and define, I think, exactly what we aspire to be as a Catholic parish here in the Town of Irondequoit.  Our vision -   Friends and neighbors joyfully sharing and living the Gospel and the transforming love of Jesus Christ through our Parish Family.  And our mission - to invite and welcome people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life to embrace and celebrate our vocation - to be Christ to the world.

            But it was another parish’s vision statement – that I saw a few weeks ago – that came to mind as I was reading and reflecting on our Gospel today – similar but also a bit different.  That vision statement reads:  it is our vision to offer every person in our community a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. 

            That, sisters and brothers, in a single phrase, sums up the mission of our Church and each one of us who professes faith in Christ Jesus.  To offer every person in our community a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.

            That’s what Bartimaeus experiences in this Gospel, does he not?  In fact, I’d say that this Gospel story has all the elements of what it looks like to encounter Jesus and come to real faith in Him.

            We start with Bartimaeus’ blindness.  Unlike the man born blind whom Jesus heals in St. John’s Gospel, perhaps Bartimaeus once could see, but we know he’s now blind, and more importantly, he knows he’s blind.  And he wants to see.

            Along comes Jesus on the road, leaving the City of Jericho, on His final journey toward Jerusalem, with His apostles and disciples in tow – a sizable crowd, St. Mark tells us.

            And Bartimaeus calls out to Our Lord – “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”  Echoes of the poor sinner “Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” 

            Somehow, Bartimaeus knows about this Jesus fellow, maybe has heard of His healing of others.  Something in his heart says “oh what the heck, what do I have to lose?” And he calls out.

            Now the “faithful,” the disciples, try to shush him, but he cries out all the louder “Son of David, have pity on me.”

            Jesus hears him and tells the disciples to bring the man to Him.  “Take courage,” they say, and upon hearing the Lord’s invitation, we’re told Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and hurries to Jesus.  The Lord asks him the same question He posed to James and John in last week’s Gospel – “what do you want me to do for you?” 

            James and John wanted power and privilege. Sit at your right and left. Talk about blind.

            But in faith and humility, Bartimaeus’ replies “I want to see!”

            “Your faith has saved you.  Go on your way”  And Bartimaeus’s eyes are opened and he follows not on his own way but follows after Jesus on the way – he becomes a disciple of Our Lord.  His life is radically changed – he’s had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.

            Sisters and brothers, you and I are also called to a life-changing encounter with Christ – it’s what it means to be His disciple, His follower.  It’s what it means to walk with the Lord.

            You and I are also called to recognize our blindness, our spiritual blindness, all the ways in which we fail to see rightly, blinded by the distractions, distortions, disorder of this world.

            You and I are called to take courage, and come to the Lord and beg Him to take pity on us, to ask Him for healing, for mercy, to ask Him to allow us to see rightly.  And healed and restored, you and I are likewise called to follow Him, ever more closely.

            Truth be told, the journey with Christ consists of many life-changing encounters with Christ, over and over and over again.  It’s not a one-and-done thing, once saved, always saved, as some would have you believe.  It’s an ever-deepening relationship with Christ, an ever deepening friendship with Him, the only one who can truly satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts.

            But back to that vision statement, brothers and sisters, you and I are also called, by our baptism, to be for others a life-changing encounter with Christ.  Our Blessed Lord, after all, ascended into heaven 2000 years ago, leaving you and me to carry on His life-changing, life-saving mission. 

            He didn’t leave us alone, to be sure, as by our baptism and confirmation we have the gift of the Holy Spirit to set our hearts on fire.  And we have the wondrous gift of His most sacred Body and Blood which we receive here at this altar, to strengthen us, so that we might grow in holiness.

            Empowered with His Holy Spirit and strengthened by the sacraments, you and I are called to go forth from here and truly offer to everyone out there a life-changing encounter with Christ, through us, His followers, His disciples. 

            If they out there don’t encounter Christ through us who come here, how else are they going to encounter Christ?  How else will they come to know His love, His healing, His mercy, His redemption?

            I don’t know about you, but to me that is a tall order – a big vision, a challenging mission. But it’s the very mission we were called to through our baptism.

            How, you might ask, are we to do that?  The answer I would propose is this.  We all remember the initials WWJD - What would Jesus do?  We saw it on bracelets and bumper stickers and facebook posts.

            But the real question, it seems to me, is this – WWJB?  Where would Jesus be?  We see in this and the last two months’ Gospels Our Lord out there, on the road, journeying to Jerusalem, encountering all kinds of people along the way.  You and I need to be in the same place as Jesus – out there, out of our homes, out of our church buildings, in places and situations in which we can encounter people and bring them the love, healing, mercy and yes redemption that only Jesus, through us, offers.

            Visiting the homebound perhaps.  Volunteering at a soup kitchen or hospice home.  As a big brother or big sister to an underprivileged youth.  Helping unwed expectant mothers at a crisis pregnancy center.  Just a few examples.

            One thing’s for sure – if we’re going to be where Jesus would be, WWJB, we need to go out into the world. Turn off the shows and the sports on the big-screen TV, turn off the handheld or the computer, hang up the golf clubs for awhile.  Focus on the only thing that will bring us true and lasting joy, lasting fulfillment, and that’s not a thing, He’s a person – Our Blessed Lord.  And focus on our mission of carrying on His mission to encounter the world. 

            Brothers and sisters, you and I must go out - into the world.  Because that’s where Jesus was, that’s where Jesus would be.  That’s where Jesus still is.