Leo XIV Continued His Catechesis on the Life of Jesus at the General Audience
Newsroom (14/06/2025, Gaudium Press) In the continuation of his Wednesday catechesis on the parables and the life of the Lord, Pope Leo XIV spoke this morning about the healings that Jesus performed. He did so before a packed St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Leo recalled the events with “Bartimaeus, a blind man and a beggar, whom Jesus met in Jericho (cf. Mk 10:40-52). The place is significant: Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, but He begins His journey, so to speak, from the “hells” of Jericho, a city below sea level”, a symbol of what the Lord did with the human race, which had been destined for hell because of sin but was rescued by Jesus.
“Unlike the great movement of people walking behind Jesus, Bartimaeus remains motionless. The Evangelist says that he is sitting by the side of the road, so he needs someone to pick him up and help him to keep walking. What can we do when we find ourselves in a situation that seems hopeless? Bartimaeus teaches us to call on the resources within us that are part of us. He is a beggar, he knows how to ask, indeed he can shout! If you really want something, do everything you can to get it, even when others scold you, humiliate you and tell you to give it up. If you really want it, keep shouting!
Bartimaeus cried out: ‘Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me’, an imprecation that we too can use: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’, Pope Leo said.
Blind in his eyes, but not in his heart, the Pontiff continued, for Bartimaeus ‘paradoxically sees better than others and recognizes who Jesus is’.
“At his cry, Jesus stops and calls him (cf. v. 49), because there is no cry that God does not hear, even when we are not conscious of addressing Him (cf. Ex 2:23). It seems strange that, faced with a blind man, Jesus does not immediately approach him; but, if we think about it, it is the way to revive the life of Bartimaeus: He urges him to get up, He trusts in his ability to walk. This man can stand up, he can rise from the dead. But to do this, he must make a very significant gesture: he must throw off his cloak (cf. v. 50)”, Pope Leo taught. Indeed, the blind man throws off his cloak, and according to Scripture, he first leapt and then went to the Lord.
The important thing is that we recognize our vulnerability
The Pope stressed that for a blind person the cloak is very important, it is as if it were his own home, his security. But “often what blocks us are precisely our apparent securities, what we have put on to defend ourselves and which, instead, prevents us from walking. To go to Jesus and allow himself to be healed, Bartimaeus must expose himself to Him in all his vulnerability. This is the fundamental step in any journey of healing“.
‘Sometimes people are blocked because life has humiliated them and they just want to regain their self-worth,’ as may have been the case with Bartimaeus.
In the end, “what saves Bartimaeus, and each of us, is faith. Jesus heals us so that we can be free. He does not invite Bartimaeus to follow Him, but tells him to go away, to set out on his way (cf. v. 52). Mark, however, concludes the account by referring that Bartimaeus set out to follow Jesus: he has freely chosen to follow the One who is the Way!“
The Pontiff concluded his meditation, asking that we bring with confidence before Jesus all our needs, certain that the Lord will hear us.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
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