Our weakness leads to compassion

October 29, 2006 -- 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. Why is faith such a powerful grace? 2. Is weakness a "bad" thing? 3. Who in the end will be saved? Just a few or many?

Many of us have heard Garrison Keillor announce the "News from Lake Wobegon" on public radio. Though the news varies from one program to another, there is something that remains constant, for in Lake Wobegon "the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Such was not the case in Jericho, a city that Jesus visited from time to time. Rather, in Jericho, there were blind beggars and wealthy tax collectors and families with all kinds of problems. And the people came to Jesus not to be told that they were strong, handsome, or above average. Rather, they came for healing and to find the meaning of life.

One such person was Bartimaeus, an individual lacking financial resources and sight. Being a blind beggar was to be in a very vulnerable situation. Bartimaeus asked for pity; Bartimaeus asked to see. Jesus was clear about what happened: faith healed Bartimaeus. This was not faith in one's own strength or one's own beauty or one's own superiority. It was faith in Jesus who incarnated the compassion of the Father.

Perhaps Bartimaeus' faith was somewhat like Madeleine L'Engle's reflection: "Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys." Faith is not something neat and clear. It is messy. It is able to embrace sufferings and tragedies such as blindness and poverty; it is able to be taken by surprise and filled with joy. Surely this was the faith of St. Paul, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Francis. Tragedy, ambiguity, and joy all wrapped up into one.

The priest in Lake Wobegon had his flaws, and rightly so. For every priest is taken out of the ordinary ranks and every priest is beset with weaknesses. Again the ideal of strength, good looks, and superiority falter before reality. But it is precisely this weakness that becomes a blessing because it can and should lead to compassion. Priests and people are in the same canoe; they all experience the human condition. They suffer, to some degree, the same afflictions as Bartimaeus: blindness and poverty.

Fr. Michael Buckley once raised a haunting question: "Is this man weak enough to be a priest?" He went on to explain: "Let me spell out what I mean. Is this man deficient enough so that he can't ward off significant suffering from his life, so that he lives with a certain amount of failure, so that he feels what it is to be an average man? Because it is in this deficiency, in this interior lack, in this weakness, maintains Hebrews, that the efficacy of the ministry and priesthood of Christ lies."

Jeremiah, in speaking about the land of the north, was not referring to Lake Wobegon, but then he might have been. For the prophet goes on to say that God will gather people from the ends of the earth and this will involve an immense throng. I would hope that the strong women, the handsome men, and the superior children from Lake Wobegon would be in the crowd. For we know, in faith, that God wills the salvation of all people.

Lake Wobegon is a fictional place but its people are real because those people are all of us. We thank God for having pity on us and for giving us the gift of faith.

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)