“Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today.” – Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968)
Gospel Reading : Mark 10:46-52
And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae′us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae′us, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.”
And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master let me receive my sight. And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
What do the Fathers say?
ORIGEN. And he, Bartimaeus, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. Perchance, the garment of the blind man means the veil of blindness and poverty, with which he was surrounded, which he cast away and came to Jesus; and the Lord questions him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The Venerable BEDE. Could He who was able to restore sight be ignorant of what the blind man wanted? His reason then for asking is to stir up the blind man’s heart to pray.
St John CHRYSOSTOM. Or He asks, lest men should think that what He granted the man was not what he wanted. For it was His practice to make the good disposition of those who were to be cured known to all men, and then to apply the remedy, in order to stir up others to emulation, and to show that he who was to be cured was worthy to obtain the grace.
The Venerable BEDE. In a mystical sense, however, Jericho, which means the moon, points out the waning of our fleeting race. The Lord restored sight to the blind man, when near to Jericho, because coming in the flesh and drawing near to His Passion, He brought many to the faith; for it was not in the first years of His Incarnation, but in the few years before He suffered, that He showed the mystery of the Word to the world.
Sources:
Bible readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Second Catholic Edition, copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Quotes of the Fathers from Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea Translated by St John Henry Newman