Post-feast of Theophany. Our Venerable Father George the Chosebite. Our Venerable Mother Dominica. Emilian the Confessor
James 2:14-26; Mark 10:46-52.
Read Mark 10:46-52
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Isn’t it amazing how technology changes our lives? Almost every convenience is met today. Feeling like a coffee on the road. No problem. McD’s can get you a piping hot coffee made to your liking withing thirty seconds, even faster at times. Don’t feel like going to a store to shop, there are countless online stores that will deliver to your door. Most of us have mobile phones that are far, far superior to the computers used in the lunar missions. The list of examples is endless.
What can be an effect of so much technology? Well, one for sure is our growing inability to be patient, to wait. How many times have you ordered that coffee, and your inside voice is saying, “C’mon! How long does it take?” There are times when we make a request for some item or service, and we expect to be heard the very first time and to have that item or service delivered.
How often do we take this attitude into our relationship with the Lord? We may have some petition or need that we bring to Him. And, seemingly, there is no answer, no response. How often do we give up?
Bartimaeus persisted in trying to get the attention of the Lord. Whether he had this persistence as part of his temperament or the Lord drew it out from him by not answering the first cry, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” is unknown. What we do know is that he cried out a second time. And the Lord heals his sight. That the Lord also indicated that the faith of Bartimaeus has made him well gives an indication that perhaps there was more than just the healing of sight. Certainly, there was a restoration of how he was regarded by the people around him. At first a pariah, and now a disciple of the Lord.
Let us persist in our prayer to the Lord. There is the beautiful Jesus Prayer – Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner – that we can utilise. And He will heal – have no doubt – and we will be enlightened.