WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father,

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and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Dear brothers and sisters, and dear children

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too, let me ask the children a question. Do you

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remember ever having your heart set on something?

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Maybe a really cool toy, or a video game? Or

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to go someplace special. And that was just all

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you could think about. Remember that? And for

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the rest of us, I mean, maybe being older, do

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you remember perhaps falling in love? And all

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you could think about was that person. And what

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you would do with that person if you went to

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this place. And what you would think if you went

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here. I mean, it was my 42nd anniversary. this

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last week, and I still remember that, and that's

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a good thing. We want to remember those things.

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They're very special, not too old. Well, this

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gospel we have today is a perfect example of

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what it means to have your heart set on something

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so intensely, so real, so necessary, so absolutely

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essential. And it's the perfect gospel to follow

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along from last week where we heard Jesus having

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been baptized. We celebrated that two weeks ago.

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He comes to the land of Galilee and the place

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of darkness and the shadow of death to a people

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that were pagan. They never have heard the gospel.

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And he says, repent. Repent. Repent as a change

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of heart, not a guilt trip. Repent as the heart

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set on Christ, not feeling bad about yourself.

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So let's look at this gospel briefly. So often

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the gospels record our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ

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on a journey. He's going from one place to another.

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And St. Luke records in this. we heard today

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from chapter 18, that Jesus was walking up to

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the gates of the city of Jericho. There was a

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large group of people following him. He was on

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his last trip to Jerusalem. This is chapter 18

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of Luke, after all. We're getting near. We're

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getting near the end. And there in Jericho, he

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would very soon... Call Zacchaeus down from his

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perch in the tree. You see the fresco up there.

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And not so far from us even is Zacchaeus Sunday.

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And after that, you know what comes. Great Lent,

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this holy, this incredible time in which our

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heart is trained to desire the one thing needful.

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And then Jesus, after he sees Zacchaeus, just

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like the fresco show, Palm Sunday. The Last Supper,

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the washing of the feet, the arrest. This is

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all before us, brothers and sisters, to captivate

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our heart, to keep us thinking about what it

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is that the Lord has done for us. But before

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Jesus sees Zacchaeus, he needs to do something.

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Before he goes to Jerusalem on the way to the

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cross in Palm Sunday, he needs to do something.

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The merciful Lord needs to see this man. Jesus

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entered Jericho into those gates with a large

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crowd of people. And St. Luke tells us that there

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was a blind beggar at the gate. Perfect place,

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right? We see needy people at major intersections,

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Costco and such. even now, so you know why he

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was there. And Saint Mark, in his version of

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this gospel, tells us that that blind beggar

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was named Bartimaeus. The name Bartimaeus means

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son, bar, of Timaeus. And Saint Mark... records

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that name for a specific purpose, not just, well,

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we knew his name was Bartimaeus and that was

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it. No, it's because without a doubt, those in

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the Jerusalem church community, the early church

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community, would know that man, would know Bartimaeus,

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will have known somebody that knew him. And they

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could get verification from this man. about what

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happened. Go ask Barnabas. He'll tell you how

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he was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ and how

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he began to follow him. That's what they could

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have said. And St. Luke goes on. He says, in

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hearing a multitude passing by, the blind beggar

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asked what it meant. So they told him, they,

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these people, this crowd around him, that Jesus

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of Nazareth was passing by. Immediately, this

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man begins to cry out. Not Jesus of Nazareth,

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help me, give me food and money. No. But Jesus,

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son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of

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David, have mercy on me. Jesus, over and over,

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he's crying out. And St. Luke says, and those

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who were there warned him. Like, if you don't

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stop. Warn him he should be quiet, but he cried

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out the more, Jesus, son of David, have mercy

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on me. His heart was captivated by this one thing.

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And we might think that the crowd was just telling

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this man, be quiet. You're disturbing us. The

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prophet is coming. Who are you? You're a nobody.

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And the assumption of the time would have been,

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you're blind. cursed by God. You're homeless.

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God has abandoned you. You're nobody. Why don't

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you just get out of the way? The Christian revolution

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changed that understanding, but that was the

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common understanding. If you were poor, that's

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where you belonged. If you were blind, God must

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have cursed you. We do the same, sort of. We

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look at people on the street corner, kind of

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the same sometimes, don't we? What is with that

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guy? Wow. But St. John Chrysostom tells us it's

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more than just all of that, that this man was

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a nobody for these people, that he was disturbing

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their peace, that he was probably just getting

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in the way. St. John Chrysostom tells us that

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Bartimaeus is confessing His faith in Jesus,

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son of David, which means the Christ, the Messiah.

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Christ and Messiah are the same word. And those

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that are rebuking him, telling him to stop from

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yelling this, found it dangerous because it was

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in front of the Romans. And he should just...

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be quiet, because you don't know where this is

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going to lead. Jesus is not merely Jesus of Nazareth,

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is he? He is the Pentecrotter, the ruler of all

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things, by whom, for whom, and in whom everything

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was created. He is the savior of all, especially

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those that believe, says St. Paul. Like this

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man, brothers and sisters, if you are not experiencing

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some resistance to the gospel, to the confession

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of Jesus as really the Lord and master of your

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life, not the great therapist giving you good

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health, but the one who leads you to the cross,

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the one who gives meaning to the suffering that

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we have, the one who... answers their prayers

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the one who created all things both in heaven

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and earth if you don't expect and have some resistance

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then you're not doing it right I don't mean from

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maybe other people that can happen too no I mean

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from within the resistance of our fallen nature

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just not wanting to follow that Jesus and the

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Lord Hearing Bartimaeus cry out, Jesus, Son of

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David, have mercy on me. We know what the word

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mercy means, right? We sing it. How many times,

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maybe at the end of the liturgy, somebody in

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the choir or the congregation can tell me how

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many times we sing Lord have mercy. Jesus hearing

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that says to the man, to those with him, bring

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him to me. And it says Jesus stopped. And it

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just doesn't say Jesus stopped. In the Greek

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it said he stood still. Stood still, quietly,

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perfectly still with all the hubbub around him.

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And the man came and Jesus said, not an impertinent

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question, but a question that we need to ask

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for ourselves too. What do you want me to do

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for you? We're his disciples also. Well, Barnabas

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knew what he wanted. He was praying with his

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whole mind, his whole heart, his voice, his body.

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Crying out, he didn't care what people said.

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Because in his faith that Jesus was the one who

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could help him, he said to receive because he

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knew it's a gift. See, we take it as just a given,

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right? We see, we taste, we feel. We walk. We

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talk. We think. It's all a gift, brothers and

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sisters. It's all a gift. This man knew. Having

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no sight, he knew it would be a gift. We take

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it for granted. Don't take it for granted. Give

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thanks to God every day for the simplest things

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that you have in your life. I want to receive

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my sight, he said. And Jesus says to him, Because

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this man's prayer had faith. Not in his mind.

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No one's interrogating the perfection of his

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theological thinking. Your faith has made you

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well, Jesus says. Affirming and lifting this

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man up. Barnabas, the blind man. Had never seen

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Christ. Perhaps he had heard of him. Yes. Just

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like us. Our faith comes through hearing. Blessed

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are those that have believed yet have not seen.

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There's Thomas up there to remind us about that.

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And Bartimaeus had never seen the resurrection.

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and those who live according to the power of

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the resurrection, given in baptism, like us.

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Bartimaeus did not know the power of the Holy

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Spirit within him, dwelling with him and being

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chrismated. Bartimaeus did not know any of the

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saints. He just knew some miserable people around

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him telling him to shut up. Bartimaeus did not

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have the divine liturgy. He did not have Holy

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Communion. He did not have the New Testament.

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He did not have... all the riches of the church,

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and yet he cried out because he had faith that

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that man, Jesus, was more and merely just that

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man. He wasn't just Jesus from Nazareth. He was

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king, pontocrater, king of all. And he was healed,

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and it says he glorified God and followed Christ.

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Christ comes to Jericho, brothers and sisters,

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not as the friendly therapist, not to give good

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health, but to give us sight. And if we can repent

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like St. John said to do, and as Jesus said to

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do, we heard in last week's gospel, and mean

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that our whole heart, our existence, we know

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depends on Jesus Christ and nothing else. then

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our prayer will have the same intensity and the

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Lord will answer us too. St. Ephraim the Syrian,

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his frescoes over there, that aisle, said, the

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light came into the world, Jesus, right, to give

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sight to the blind and faith to those who lack

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it. The beggar's hand was stretched out to receive

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a penny from human beings at that gate. and found

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himself receiving the gift of God. And the prophet

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Jeremiah tells us that the Lord says, And ye

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shall seek me, and find me. And when ye shall

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search for me with all your heart, I will come

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to you. Blind Bartimaeus did that. This is our

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example today, to give the Lord our full heart,

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not a portion of it. to have fervency of faith,

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faith in action. To our Lord be glory, now and

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ever, to ages of ages. Amen.