In our relation to the ‘God who is to come’ how do we wait? What is the interior demeanor that is asked of each of us if we are to receive this new manifestation of God’s life within us and in our midst? With our liturgy we have taken the first step into Advent; we are blessed to have these days to quiet down inside, to listen, to let go, to wait with our deepest longing.

The gospel reading of this Sunday from the gospel of Mark (10:46-52) is the story of the encounter between Bartimaeus and Jesus: it is an encounter of faith.  Let’s look at the elements of this utterly simple and amazing encounter.  Bartimaeus is along the roadside begging.  On hearing that Jesus was passing by “he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.’”  What happens next?  The people tell him to keep silent and even ‘rebuke

‘Can you drink the cup that I drink?  Can you be baptized with the baptism which I am baptized?’ (Mk 10:38).  These are Jesus’ words to his disciples and to each of us, his ‘would-be’ disciples’.  These two questions of Jesus are in response to the favor James and John are asking, the desire for personal glory.  In one sense or at one level there is nothing ‘wrong’ per se with this desire.  It comes down to the motivation of the heart, does it not?&

On Thursday for our Morning Prayer we had a reading from Leviticus 19, verses: 1-2, 17-18, 33-34.  This reading was chosen by the editors of Give Us This Dayas their Morning Prayer reading to complement the gospel on this same day.  The gospel reading for the Mass from Luke opened with these verses: “Jesus said to his disciples:

Ephphatha, be opened.  What opens the ear to hear?  Is it not true that when the heart is open we are able to hear?  Feel into this reality for a moment: when my heart is closed or hardened by harsh judgments, hurt, presumptions, shadow stuff, worries, and you can add to the list, we do not hear.  We hear only our noise.