Illustration: St. Peter Healing the Crippled Beggar, by Matthais Gerung (1500-1570)
Pope Leo’s General Audience – Catechesis on Jesus Christ our Hope
Saint Peter’s Square – Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ our Hope. II. The life of Jesus.
The parables 9. Bartimaeus. ““Take courage; get up, he is calling you.”
Scripture Reading: (Mark 10:46-52 – The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus).
46 They came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
47 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!”
48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.”
50 And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus.
51 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.”
52 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.
Pope Leo’s catechesis
Dear brothers and sisters,
With this catechesis I would like to draw your attention to another important aspect of the life of Jesus, namely his healings.
I invite you to present your most painful and fragile parts to the Heart of Christ, as well as those areas in your life where you feel stuck and blocked.
Let us trustfully ask the Lord to hear out cries and heal us!
The character who accompanies us in this reflection will help us to understand that we should never lose hope, even when we feel lost.
He is Bartimaeus, a blind man and a beggar, whom Jesus meets in Jericho (Mark 10:46-52 above).
The location is significant: Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, but he starts his journey, so to speak, in the “underworld” of Jericho, a city located below sea level. In fact, with his death, Jesus went to recover that Adam who fell below and who represents each one of us.
Bartimaeus means “son of Timaeus”: he is described by a relationship to another person, but he is dramatically alone. However, this name could also mean “son of honor” or “son of admiration”, which is the exact opposite of his situation.
[This is the interpretation also given by Augustine in The Harmony of the Gospels, 2, 65, 125: PL 34, 1138]
Since names are so important in Jewish culture,
Bartimaeus’s name means he fails to live up to what he is called to be.
Unlike the great crowd of people walking behind Jesus, Bartimaeus remains still.
According to the Evangelist, he is sitting by the roadside, so he needs someone to help him up and resume his journey.
How should we respond when we find ourselves in an apparently hopeless situation?
Bartimaeus teaches us to draw on our inner resources.
He is a beggar, he knows how to ask, in fact, he can shout!
If you truly want something, you will do everything in your power to achieve it, even when others reproach and humiliate you, telling you to give up.
If you really desire it, you keep on shouting!
The cry of Bartimaeus, in the Gospel of Mark – “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” (v. 47) – has become a very well-known prayer in the Eastern tradition, which we can also use: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have pity on me, a sinner”.
Bartimaeus is blind, but paradoxically he sees better than the others, and he recognizes who Jesus is!
Before Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus stops and has him called (cf. 49), because God hears every cry, even when we are not aware that we are addressing him (Ex 2:23 – the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God.).
It may seem strange that Jesus does not immediately approach Bartimaeus; but, if we think about it, this is the way to reactivate his life:
He encourages him to get up again and trusts in his ability to walk.
Bartimaeus man can get up on his feet again, he can rise from the throes of death.
But to do this, he must perform a very meaningful gesture: he must throw away his cloak (v. 50)!
For a beggar, the cloak is everything: it provides safety, shelter and protection.
Even the law protected the beggar’s cloak and stipulated that it be returned in the evening if taken as collateral (Ex 22:25 – “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him).
And yet, it is often our apparent securities that stand in our way –prevent us from moving forward. In order to be healed by Jesus, Bartimaeus must reveal his vulnerability to him.
This is the first step in any healing journey.
The question that Jesus asks him seems strange also: “What do you want me to do for you?” (v.51). But, in reality, it is not a given that we want to be healed from our ailments; sometimes we prefer to stand still so to avoid taking responsibility.
Bartimaeus’ reply is profound: he uses the verb ‘anablepein’, which can mean “to see again”, but which we can also translate as “to look up”.
Indeed, Bartimaeus does not want only to see again; he wants to regain his dignity!
In order to look up, we must raise our heads. Sometimes people are stuck because life has humiliated them, and they just want to find their self-worth again.
What saves Bartimaeus, and each one of us, is faith.
Jesus heals us so that we can become free.
He does not invite Bartimaeus to follow him, but tells him to go, to set out on his way (cf. v.52).
However, Mark concludes the story by saying that Bartimaeus began to follow Jesus: he freely chose to follow him, He who is the Way!
Dear brothers and sisters, let us trustfully bring our ailments and those of our loved ones before Jesus. Let us also bring the pain of those who feel lost and without hope.
Let us cry out for them too, and we will be certain that the Lord will hear us.
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Summary of the Holy Father’s words:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our ongoing catechesis on the Jubilee theme of “Jesus Christ our Hope,” today we consider yet another aspect of the life and ministry of Jesus, namely, his healing miracles.
In the reading we heard, the blind Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus with a plea that is itself an act of faith: “Jesus, have mercy on me!”
It is significant that, when Jesus asks Bartimaeus to come to him, the blind beggar immediately throws off his cloak, his one possession and the sole source of his security.
In this sense, he stands before Jesus in all his vulnerability, trusting in the Lord’s power to restore his sight.
We too, recognizing our own need for healing, are asked to come to the Lord in all our frailty, leaving behind our own “cloaks” – our securities, our comfort zones – in order to experience his healing power. During this Jubilee of hope, may we too receive the grace to see all things anew in the light of faith, and to follow the Lord in freedom and newness of life.
