Thursday 8th Week of OT A 2026

Gospel 

Mark 10:46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

He let nothing stand in the way of being healed by Jesus. His faith drove him to ignore everyone around him and continue to call out for Jesus when he heard Jesus was nearby.

 

Jesus is nearby us right now. His advocate, the Holy Spirit is always ready to hear our call and come to us.

 

Do we have faith that is strong enough to ignore the voices around us? Even the well-meaning ones who think they know what is best for us. And seem to speak for Jesus.

 

But they don’t. For those faithful to Jesus always point to him and encourage others to follow him and call out to him unceasingly.

 

Where do we fit into this story?

 

Do we have faith that stops at nothing, doesn’t listen to noise around us but is always searching and holding on to hear his voice who calls to us too.

 

Jesus is calling each of us even as we call him. The farther we go away from sin and the world, the closer we can come to Jesus. If we want the Holy Spirit to guide us, then we let nothing stand in our way.

Pray without ceasing. Love all without counting. And allow the Holy Spirit to be part of all we do. For we do everything for God. And nothing that is not fitting to God do we do.

 

Calling out in faith means we throw off even good things like a cloak, as Bartimaeus did. We let go of even things that may be good for us. And let nothing come before God.

For we are single minded in our pursuit like a blind man seeking to see. We seek to see Jesus working in our life. He will come and he will heal our wounds and make us sound again.