Fr Anthony Keane OSB
As Jesus and his disciples left the City of Jericho to go up the
dangerous road to Jerusalem, Bar Timaeus, a blind beggar
sitting on the side of the road, hearing that it was Jesus of
Nazareth that was passing, began to shout and cry out:
Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.
And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet,
But he shouted all the louder: Son of David, have pity on
me… Jesus stopped… Courage they said, get up, He is
calling you…then Jesus said: What do you want me to do for
you? The Blind Man said to Him ‘Rabbuni, let me see
again’. Jesus said to him Go, your faith has saved you.
And at once his sight returned…Now we too, might do well to
ask Jesus, our wisdom and light, that we might see again, for
divine wisdom is indeed more splendid than the sun;
compared with light she takes first place, for light must yield
to night, but against Wisdom, evil cannot prevail.
But who are the jealous spirits that try to prevent us?
It is the enemy, the accuser of our race, which we may, by
God’s grace contemn and ignore, for we read ‘In the
beginning was the Word’.
And who are those who say ‘Courage, get up, He is calling
you’? This is the great gathering of Angels and Saints, whose
feast we celebrate next Friday the First of November. It is the
voice of all those who from our infancy, have looked on us
with love and wished us well. May we listen to their kindly
and beautiful voices.