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Thank you.

You're awesome.

Okay. And then go.

God doesn't need your strength.

He wants your surrender.

Do you believe in miracles?

Miracles are.

Real.

Merciful.

Timely.

Beautiful.

You are a miracle.

Lord, open my eyes so that I may see. I love this story. I love this miracle. It is one of my favorites. Here in the United States, it is high praise to say to someone, "You're the goat." Similar high praise in Australia would be to say to someone, "You are a legend." Bartimaeus was a legend. I just love this guy. Throughout the gospels, we read about Jesus taking someone from the very fringes of society and placing them right at the white hot center of a situation. It doesn't happen once or twice. It happens over and over again. It happens so often that we have to pause and ask ourselves, what was Jesus trying to teach us? But that is a question for another day. Bartimaeus is one of those people, a man on the fringes of society that Jesus decides to embrace as a lesson for the ages. Picture the scene. Jesus was walking down the road, leaving Jericho. He was surrounded by a crowd. It must have been noisy and chaotic, hot and sweaty with everyone pressing in. On the side of the road is the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. He woke that day like any other day, wondering if anyone would toss him some scraps of food or a small coin. But then the commotion began. He'd been sitting there for years, decades, and it was immediately clear that this day was different. One way or another, he discovered or deduced that it was Jesus passing by. This was his chance. He had heard about this man. The crowd gets thicker and louder. They push and kick him to get past, to gain the advantage, to jockey into a better position. Bartimaeus can't see Jesus, but he can hear him. And when Bartimaeus realizes this is his moment, he begins to cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." The disciples try to quiet him. Jesus is busy. He has places to go and things to do. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." The crowd is embarrassed by Bartimaeus. They tell him to keep quiet and stop making a scene. But Bartimaeus cries out even louder. "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." Everyone keeps telling him to stop it. They tell him not to bother Jesus. They think their idol curiosity is more important than the pressing need that consumes every fiber of Bartimaeus' being. But Bartimaeus knows what he needs. He knows who Jesus is. He knows this is his best chance and quite possibly his only chance in this lifetime to regain his sight. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." He continues to cry out persistently, and then it happens. The first miracle, in the middle of the crowd, in the middle of all that noise, in the middle of Jesus' mission. He hears the blind man calling. He pauses, and he walks over this one blind man on the side of the road. And Jesus asked Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" This question, it's crisp. It's beautiful, it's simple, it's perfect, it's practical. It's one of the most direct questions in all of Scripture. There isn't any theological posturing. The question's clear. The clarity of Jesus' question is met by the simplicity of Bartimaeus' response. The blind man's reply is stunning. There isn't any small talk, there isn't time, and his need is too urgent. He says, "Lord, open my eyes so that I may see." And then it happens. The second miracle, his sight is restored immediately. We are all blind. It's a mistake to read this story and pray for people who are blind as if we are not one of them. We may not be physically blind, but we have plenty of spiritual blindness. The next problem, when we don't realize we are blind, we don't understand our desperate need. We are blind to our greatest needs. When is the last time you begged God for something desperately? We are more desperate than we realize, but when is the last time you sat with God and begged Him to answer a desperate need?

Only in our pride is it impossible to believe we are not desperate. Bartimaeus knew he was desperate. Why don't we bring our desperate needs to God? Pride, arrogance, foolishness, self-sufficiency. We like to pretend we're fine. Bartimaeus wasn't fine, and he knew it. He wasn't confused about his desperation. He knew he was blind. He knew he needed help. He knew his life was in danger every day as a blind man. He had the kind of abundant clarity that we sometimes think would be nice to have. He wasn't too proud to appear desperate because he was desperate. And he wasn't confused about who could and who couldn't solve his problem. Jesus and nobody else. The clarity Bartimaeus had filled him with boldness, the type of boldness you see when someone's life depends on it. Do you think he cared for a minute what the crowd thought of him? Do you think for one minute he was embarrassed because they were embarrassed by him? Do you think he stopped to think about letting the moment slip by because he didn't want to ruffle any feathers? Do you think he was inclined to stay quiet because the people who had been ignoring him his whole life were now trying to quiet him? No, no, no, and no. He ignored all that. He ignored everyone and everything except Jesus. Why? Because he believed that if he could get to Jesus, Jesus could heal him and change his life forever.

Is our Jesus different from Bartimaeus as Jesus? No. The same Jesus who heard Bartimaeus, who paused, who weaved through the crowd to cross the dusty road, who asked Bartimaeus that question with refreshing clarity, that Jesus is the same Jesus who waits for us in the tabernacles and [inaudible] of our churches and chapels. Bartimaeus' Jesus is the same Jesus who we sometimes far too casually and unpreparedly perceive in the Eucharist at Mass there is an all-too-human attraction to the question Jesus asked Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" Everyone loves that question. Wouldn't we all love Jesus to ask that question? And we love our parents and siblings and husbands and wives and employees and employers to ask us that very same question too. But I want to steer you away from that today for two reasons. The first is that most of us wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to ask for if the opportunity did present itself. So we'd probably end up asking for the wrong thing.

But the more important reason is this. We only discover and know what to ask for by becoming intimately familiar with our blindness. Bartimaeus was able to answer Jesus' question with bold clarity because he was intimately familiar with his greatest need. That need had stripped away all the shallow and superficial desires of his heart. So when the moment presented itself, he was able to ask Jesus for what he most needed. If we ponder the question, who wrote some of the earliest Christian prayers? Answers would include Peter, Paul, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Irenaeus. And these answers will be correct. But it is my estimation that these answers are also incomplete.

Bartimaeus is on my list. "Lord, open my eyes so that I may see." What a beautiful prayer. And the centurion's on my list, too. "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof." It's a profound prayer. And the Canaanite woman, the Canaanite woman, she's on my list too. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." And Thomas, he wrote one of the earliest Christian prayers, "My Lord and my God." And a good thief, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." All these words, all these matters of the heart, shared with Jesus, spoken to Jesus, constitute the earliest Christian prayers, and we should employ them as such.

I may have prayed Bartimaeus' prayer more than any other prayer in my life. I pray it all the time. My life is full of decisions, problems, situations, opportunities, and I am stumbling around in the dark like a blind man amidst all of this. Some days I pray Bartimaeus' prayer 500 times in a day. I pray it over and over again. "Lord, open my eyes that I may see." Between meetings at traffic lights, driving to work, sitting on a plane, going for a walk, watching my children play their sports, waiting at the dentist's office, standing in line at the grocery store, "Lord, open my eyes so that I may see." I like to bring one question, problem, situation, or opportunity into focus. And then I pray the prayer of Bartimaeus, "Lord, open my eyes so that I may see." These nine words have seen me through a lot of situations. I offer them to you today for your own prayer.

Trust, surrender, believe, receive do you believe in miracles? You are a miracle.

In today's lesson, spiritual blindness can be more dangerous than physical blindness because we don't realize we are afflicted with it. Ask Jesus to open your eyes, just like Bartimaeus did. Lord, open my eyes so that I may see. Pray this prayer over and over, many times a day, and watch the Lord lift the blindness from your soul. And today's virtue, clarity. Clarity is the virtue that allows us to see reality as it is, and ourselves, as we are. Clarity frees us from our hidden motives, confusion, self-deception, and false priorities. It grows when we listen humbly and trust that God has great plans for us. Spend time in the classroom of silence regularly. Clarity emerges from silence.

I got great news for you today. The Stations of the Eucharist is an incredible concept. It's a phenomenal book. Our whole lives, we've been praying stations of the cross. Father Jonathan Meyer has conceived of these 14 Stations of the Eucharist, and it is, wow, very, very powerful. Click the button below, pick up a copy today. Have a great day, and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.

God of miracles, wonders, and grace.

I thank you for all the good you have done in my life.

For the miracles I recognize.

And the many graces. I so often overlook.

I open my heart completely to you today.

Inviting you.

To completely inhabit my soul.

So that through me.

Others may encounter your love.

Your mercy.

Your compassion. Your kindness.

And your staggering generosity.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Don't let the world steal your wonder.

See you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

Have a great day.

You want to give us a slate? Go. Simple.

Simple.

Quiet.

Quiet.

You are a miracle.

You are a miracle.

I love the cubs.

We've been over this. Oh, you specifically would like that, okay.

Okay, once you come over here, you're not in this one?

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oh, amen.

All right, now you're going to do all of that the same, except then you're all going to do receive.

Trust.

Surrender.

Believe.

Receive.

Okay. Can you do a big smile? He's like, "This my big smile."

Yes. Hello.

Let's take that puppy back outside.

Okay. Come on, baby.