Hearth & Altar

Bartimaeus is blind, sitting by the road, and when he hears Jesus of Nazareth is passing, he does the one thing he has: he cries out. They tell him to be quiet. He cries out all the more. Jesus stops. Of all the things happening on the road to Jerusalem - the disciples arguing about seats, the passion prediction just given, the city ahead - Jesus stops for the voice that will not stop crying.

Take courage, get up, he is calling you. Bartimaeus throws off his cloak - the one possession a beggar would protect - and comes to Jesus. What do you want me to do for you? The same question Jesus just asked James and John. Different answer. Master, I want to see. Go, your faith has saved you. He saw immediately and followed him on the way.

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own. Peter names the identity before he names the conduct. You have tasted that the Lord is good. You have been called out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were no people; now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy; now you have received mercy. The conduct - good works, keeping away from worldly desires - flows from the identity already given. Bartimaeus follows on the way because he has been called, not because he has earned it.

• For our family, that we would cry out with Bartimaeus when the Lord passes - not be quiet, but cry out all the more, we pray to the Lord.
• For those who are sitting by the road and cannot see the way forward, that Jesus would stop and call them by name, we pray to the Lord.
• For households living as God's people - chosen, royal, holy - that the identity would shape the conduct rather than the other way around, we pray to the Lord.
• In this Sacred Heart month, for a deeper tasting of the goodness of the Lord, we pray to the Lord.

You have tasted that the Lord is good. This week, name that goodness specifically to your family - at the table, in the car, in a moment of ordinary conversation. The announcing of his praises begins in the household. One true thing, said aloud, about the Lord who called you out of darkness.

Bartimaeus threw off his cloak and leaped up. The cloak was his only protection. He threw it aside because what was calling him was worth more than what was covering him. Teach your children that following Jesus sometimes means leaving behind what has been protecting you - not foolishly, but when the call is real and the protection is keeping you from getting up.