Deacon Kevin Gingras
October 27th, 2024
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102724.cfm
Jer 31:7-9 Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Today I wonder if we can pray both boldly and humbly. We see that in today’s Gospel when Bartimaeus boldly and humbly brings his petition to Jesus:
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." … Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
He was humble in calling to Jesus using his messianic title “Son of David” He was bold in continuing to call out even when others told him to be silent.
Last week we heard from James and John the sons of Zebedee who boldly petitioned Jesus but with very little humility. They were praying for earthly things. Jesus could not grant that one sits at His left and the other at His right when he enters into His glory. He did however tell them they would drink the same cup - they would also die as martyrs.
James and John never read the Catechism, especially paragraph 2559 which reads:
"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God” ... But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."
To be fair to James and John, the Catechism of the Catholic Church hadn’t been written out yet. However, it appears Blind Bartimaeus got it right with his prayer - Jesus, son of David, have pity on me, as the Catechism, paragraph 2631 reads:
The first movement of the prayer of petition is asking forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into the light of communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another, so that "we receive from him whatever we ask." Asking forgiveness is the prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer.
One of the prayers I pray a lot in the Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours is an antiphon that reads:
"I lift up my heart to you, O Lord, and you will hear my morning prayer."
I always feel odd telling God that He will hear morning prayer! It just doesn’t seem right, it makes me uncomfortable, like I’m demanding that God will hear me. Of course he hears me! We need to be ok with praying like Bartimaeus, boldly yet humbly.
This was the case when it came to praying for my daughter Faith and her scoliosis. The initial prognosis was to get her fitted with a brace that would only stop the curvature from getting worse and then when she finished growing she would have surgery. My wife Allison and I began to pray.
I won’t bore you with all the details but after two different braces, a lot of anxiety, and some tears it struck me that I needed divine help. I looked up the patron saint of back problems. I found St. Gemma Galgani and a novena to St. Gemma asking for her intercession. This novena consisted of praying special prayers for nine consecutive days. Allison and I began to pray this prior to our next appointment. We also began to discover how perfect St. Gemma was for Faith’s cause. At a young age, St. Gemma was orphaned, just like Faith, and had spinal tuberculosis that caused her to not only need an iron back brace but also caused her to become deaf as the disease progressed, just like Faith. This was a good Saint to ask for intercession on Faith’s behalf!
We finished the novena a few days prior to the visit to Boston Children’s in Waltham. We went in for a brace check and an X-ray. At the end of the appointment, the doctor came in amazed at the result of the X-ray, her scoliosis not only stopped progressing but her curvature had been reduced! This wasn’t supposed to happen but it did! We prayed humbly but I wish we prayed more boldly during the nine-day novena. I wish our prayer was that Faith would be completely cured! St. Gemma presented our prayer to God just as we had prayed it and, praise God, surgery is off the books for Faith now!
St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri tells us
The prayer of a humble soul at once penetrates the heavens and presents itself before the throne of God, and will not depart thence till God regards it and listens to it.