“What would Jesus say of my faith in Him?”
This is the question on my mind when I hear Jesus say to the blind Bartimaeus in Mk 10:46-52, “Your faith has saved you.” It struck me that I can have faith that is useless to save. Do I have faith that can save me or is my faith just an empty profession on my lips? I can only know the true quality of my faith when I face moments of loss and failure in life.
Bartimaeus had lost his sight. He had lost his wealth and so was reduced to begging. From the way that the crowd treated him, he did not seem to have any status, respect, or dignity in society. They scolded him rudely when he cried out for mercy, “And many rebuked him and told him to be silent.”
Bartimaeus had lost everything, but he never lost his faith. His faith was strong enough to overcome the losses of his life. This saving faith allowed him to experience the saving and healing power of God.
Four things gave saving power to his faith.
First, his faith was based on the truth about Jesus. He listened to the truth about Jesus, “On hearing that it was Jesus Nazareth…” He did not pay attention to the many skeptical and negative public opinions about Jesus. He did not allow his feelings of rejection, maltreatment, and abandonment to overcome him. He simply believed the truth and acted on it.
Saving faith depends on what we hear and listen to, “Faith comes from hearing.”(Rom 10:7) We must spend time with the truth of God’s words to us if we are going to have a saving faith. We must also avoid listening to the condemning and accusing words of demons that will do anything to destroy any iota of faith in us. If we are going to have a saving faith, we cannot uncritically absorb the confusing messages that we are bombarded with in this world.
Secondly, he prayed with persistence and perseverance, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” The voice of the large crowd yelling at him to keep quiet could not drown out the intensity and desperateness of his voice. He also knew exactly what he wanted from Jesus. His was no generic prayer, “Master, I want to see.”
A saving faith prays always without ceasing. It prays when God seems absent or silent in our lives. It prays when it has lost everything. It prays when feeling bad and unlovable. It prays when nothing seems to change or happen in prayer. It continues to pray even when things seem to get worse. We know that our faith lacks saving power when we have given up our prayer life for any reason.
Thirdly, he obeyed Jesus. When Jesus said, “Call him,” the man did not make any excuse not to come to Jesus. He did not postpone his obedience for a single second. He quickly removed anything that would cause an obstacle to his obedience, “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.”
Saving faith seeks to obey the will of God above all things. It does not seek its own will but strives to obey and please God and not self in all things.
Saving faith hears Jesus calling, “Come to me,” and will seek Him wherever He can be found. It is saving faith that will bring us to the Eucharist at Mass and in Eucharistic adoration. It is saving faith that will move us to humble ourselves and allow the forgiving and healing love of Jesus to touch us in the sacrament of Confession.
We know that we lack saving faith when we ignore the prompting of God’s grace and rebel against God’s words to us and are comfortable doing so. We lack that saving faith when we are reluctant to seek Jesus in the sacraments of the eucharist and in confession.
Lastly, he freely chose to follow Jesus more closely. The healing of Bartimaeus was the last miracle that Jesus would perform in Mark’s Gospel before entering His passion and death. Jesus was on His final lap to give ultimate glory to God on Calvary and to save us from sin and death. He was not going there to glorify Himself, “It was not Christ who glorified Himself by becoming high priest.”(Heb 5:5)
Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go on your way.” He responded by making the way of Jesus his own way. He chose to follow Jesus along the path of suffering and sacrifice for God’s greater glory. He would no longer live for his own selfish needs anymore.
Saving faith moves us to constant conversion and to be more God-centered. Such a faith will never allow us to be the center of our lives. We will seek more ways to give ourselves completely to God for His saving mission and for the eternal good of souls. Saving faith is dead in a soul that has no desire for the salvation of all souls.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God has the power and desire to heal and save us all the time. But what type of faith do we really have? Do we have the type of faith that dies away because of failures, losses, hardships, and challenges in life? Do we lose our faith because of what others think, say, or do to us? Have we lost our faith because of the many scandals in the Church? Or do we have a saving faith that persists till we experience His power to save and heal us?
Even if we lose everything, let us never lose our faith. God always has a saving plan to restore us and to bring us to Him in this life and in the next. If we too cultivate a saving faith and hold on to it, we will surely see the saving and healing power of God in our lives.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Image credit: Eustache Le Sueur, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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About the author:
Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, is a Roman Catholic priest and religious of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary currently serving in the Philippines. He teaches theology and is a seminary formator for candidates to the priesthood and religious life. Father also gives Ignatian retreats and serves as spiritual director to many of the lay, religious, and clergy in the area.
He earned his first degree in Physics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Ordained in 2009, he studied at St. John’s seminary, in Brighton, Massachusetts. Father has an STL/MA in Moral Theology from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.
Father Moneme blogs at https://toquenchhisthirst.wordpress.com/.
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