Dear Brother Knights:

On October 28th we meet Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, who meets Jesus for the first time. He does not know this but gets to know it from the people who accompany Jesus on his way. Immediately he screams  “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.“ People who tried to calm  him down and tried to stop him from shouting, are very unsuccessful.  Bartimaeus’s mind doesn’t want to have it and he shouts even louder. Jesus hears him and calls him. Bartimaeus rushes as fast as it is possible in his blindness to get to Jesus. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man answers, “My teacher let me see again”.  It is very important for us to look at the sentence Bartimaeus utters. There is no doubt in his sentence, he believes and knows that Jesus can do it. As we know out of scripture when Jesus is facing faith like this, he always acts. There is another statement, which we  have to look at. When Bartimaeus can see again he has no plans for his own life but has  made the decision to follow Jesus. Every one of us should have a meditation about this story and I would bet that everyone can find something in it for his life.

Fr. Frank Feldmann, SAC
Chaplain