Jer 31.7-9; Ps 125 (126); Heb 5: 1-6; Mk 10: 46-52

“I am a father to Israel”, declares God through Jeremiah, while the letter to the Hebrews applies a verse from Psalm 2 to Jesus: “you are my Son, today I have begotten you”. Believing is a filial experience: it is a question of recognizing God as Father and relating to him with a feeling similar to that of Jesus, the only-begotten Son. Mark also tells us about the meeting between two sons: Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, meets the “son of David”. However, his eyes must open to recognize and understand that the “son of David” is the “Son of God”. Even though he is healed, it will take time for him to recognise this. What is now granted him by his newly regained sight is to follow Jesus “along the road”. Before he sat begging on the side of the road, now he can walk behind him, along this road that leads to Jerusalem and the Passover. Then, in front of the Crucified One, his eyes will finally be able to see and together with the centurion he will be able to confess: “Truly this man was a son of God!”. Bartimaeus’ journey opens with an experience of listening – he feels the passage of Jesus – to end in contemplation: upon receiving the sight, the first face he sees is that of Jesus in front of him. However, the journey of healing is not finished: Bartimaeus must continue to walk in order to recognize in the Crucified One the face of the Son of God.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey