St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

Like the blind beggar in the Gospel today, St Catherine of Genoa is another example of placing full confidence in the Lord. She was an elegant, fashionable young noblewoman from Renaissance Italy. Her family arranged a marriage for her, but it was an arrangement based on political factors more than personal factors. Her husband turned out to be irresponsible, immature, violent, and scandalously unfaithful. For the first five years of their marriage, he was almost never at home – he spent his days and nights carousing or advancing his political intrigues.

Afer five years of frustration, loneliness, and tears, Catherine had had enough. She decided that she would treat him just as he treated her, and threw herself into the fast lane of high society, attending all the right functions, wearing all the right clothes, and drinking all the right cocktails. Five years later she was even more miserable than before. Her husband still hadn't changed his ways, and she had found even less fulfillment in the pleasures of high society than the frustrated attempts at a fruitful home life.

It was then – when she was finally ready to listen – that our Lord started whispering to her heart. Gently but surely, he led her down a path of prayer, faith, and service to others that turned her into one of Europe's most revered and renowned mystics, counselors, and saints. God really does want to be our ally, our comfort, and our light, but sometimes our hearts are not as eager to receive as His is eager to give.

The blind man understood the heart of Jesus; he knew that God wanted to be his ally. But the other people in the crowd, even our Lord's own disciples, didn't understand his heart. They tried to keep the blind man quiet; they wanted the Lord to keep His distance.

Are we more like Bartimaeus, or the crowd? We can take a simple test to find out. It consists of two questions.

First, when we face difficulties in life, what is our first reaction? Do we turn immediately to God and ask for His help, as the blind man did, and only then do what we can to resolve the situation? Or do we turn first to our own resources, and only go to God when all else fails?

Second, when we experience victories in life, what is our first reaction? Do we turn immediately to God, to thank Him and glorify Him, the source of all good things? Or do we celebrate first, and only then, as an aferthought, give thanks to the Lord? In our reactions to failures and to successes, to difficulties and to victories, we get a glimpse of the inside of our hearts.

If we find that our hearts still have some dark, doubtful, selfish corners, we are in the right place. In this and every Mass, Jesus is passing by our lives, just as He passed by the blind man in Jericho. At Mass, the Church is saying to us: “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” At Mass, Jesus looks into our eyes and asks us, with a smile: “What do you want me to do for you?” Let us tell Him, sincerely and confidently, Let us let Him be our ally; Let us let Him shine His encouraging, healing light on each one of us, just as He did with Bartimaeus.