Couragio

28 Oct

So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.  (Mk 10:49b-50)

I used to get the biggest kick out of Cardinal Cody when I was in the seminary at St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois.

He used to enjoy talking about the election of Pope John Paul II.  He said that, when the pope was elected, he looked frightened.

Cardinal Cody would then tell us, “So I grabbed his arm, looked him in the eye, and said ‘Couragio’.  That, you know, means courage.”

I would always laugh when I heard that.

Of course, we knew what couragio meant.  It didn’t take a Latin scholar.

However, it takes a lot to tell someone to take courage.

In today’s Gospel, the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, heard that Jesus was coming down the road.  He began hollering to get Jesus’ attention.  The more that he hollered, the more the disciples tried to silence him.  That just made him shout the louder, though.

He got the Lord’s attention.

Jesus summoned him to come forward.

The disciples told him to “take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.”

Can you imagine what was going through his head?

I’m not sure I can.

I wonder what I would ask the Lord if I heard that He was coming down the way and, somehow, I had gotten His attention.

But, then, it strikes me.

I do have His attention.

Jesus listens to us — always.

FAITH ACTION:  Jesus is present to you, listening to you.  What do you want to ask of Him?