A sentence from today’s Gospel touches me very much. This sentence contains the words of the blind man who said to Jesus: “have mercy on me.” For the believing Jews such a request can be made only to God. When blind Bartimaeus brings this request to Jesus, it means that Bartimaeus recognized Jesus as God’s presence on earth and have placed all his hopes on Jesus.
In every eucharistic celeberation at the beginning of the service we pray: “Lord have mercy on us.” This request of Bartimaeus later became the basis of a well-known prayer formula in Christianity:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” “The tradition of the “Jesus Prayer” goes back to the “prayer of the mind,” recommended by the ancient monks of the Egyptian desert, particularly Evagrius Ponticus (died 339)”. “It was continued as the “prayer of the heart” in Byzantine Hesychasm, a monastic system that seeks to achieve divine quietness. ” The prayer of the heart needs silence and peace. Everything within us and surrounding us must not hinder us to keep the inner harmony. As we begin to strive for this attitude of vigilance and attentiveness in our deelings and relationships, we may begin to experience an inner peace.
We hope very much for the mercy of God because we fail to live holy. we fail to live according to the will of God. We hope and wish that God will have mercy on us because God fulfills his promises.
It is our experience that that we feel every day one way or other, some kind of the mercy from God. If God is loving and mercyful towards us, we are supposed to be loving and mercyful towards our felllow humans.
Todays the world has the characteristics of different conflicts and war which causes hungersnot, migration and refugees. Thosends of people flee from their hometown and homeland because they donot feel secure in theirown country. They hope to get a worthy and safe human life in those countries where they flee. Some times they ask for mercy. Sometimes they need protection and concern. When people are in need, we have the redponsibility to help.
If many Christians have to flee their countries because of their faith, it is worth considering what special status they receive from the Christian churches, officials and fellow believers. I would like us to pay particular attention to this group of people who have to flee because they are Christians.
As Bartimaeus pleads in today’s Gospel:
“Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!” many people especially from persecuted countries ask God for grace and help so that they can practice their Christian faith.
We can say to many fellow Christians: Just have courage, your faith will help you.
we want to pray for the church in persecuted countries: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS