30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Rules are for children who don’t yet fully understand; as we mature we begin to grasp the deeper reasons behind the rules, along with their nuances and qualifications. In the Gospel today Jesus heals Bartimaeus the blind man, who then follows Jesus on ‘the way’; Bartimaeus isn’t leaving to follow a set of rules and regulations, He’s leaving to follow a person – Jesus Christ. An immature understanding of our faith sees Catholicism as a bunch of rules, while an adult understanding acknowledges that all of these rules are for the sake of living out a healthy, strong, mature relationship with a person – Jesus Christ!
Like Bartimaeus, God has done great things for each of us as well! Can we respond maturely and set out on ‘the way’ with Jesus, next to Bartimaeus, not simply following rules but actually growing in a relationship with a person – Jesus Christ?