WHEN THE
ARCHBISHOP CAME TO BREAKFAST
It was the early 1960s and the
archbishop was visiting his parishes. The parish council would select one
member of the parish to host him for breakfast after Mass. The choice fell on
Mr Mushore and in the course of conversation the archbishop told him he was
trying to encourage multiracial education in Church schools and would he be
prepared to send his children to what was then a school predominantly for
whites. Mr Mushore, recognising this was an opening for his children to have
many opportunities out of reach in the local school to which they were
destined, readily agreed.
The result was that the two
children, a boy and a girl, received an education which fast tracked them into
careers that up to then were matters for dreams. Leaving aside for a moment the
inequality of the system that then pertained, the point here is simply that Mr
Mushore grasped a moment that might never come again. His choice instantly
changed the life of his children and allowed them entrance to a way of life
that would have a ripple effect on their families and on the community.
Blind Bartimaeus was stuck in his
drab routine of sitting daily by the wayside until, one day, a large crowd of
people passed by seemingly following some renowned person. Curious, he asked
who it was and, being told, he began to cry out for help. The people were
annoyed at him causing a disturbance and told him to be quiet. But that only
spurred him on and he cried out even louder. He got what he wanted and, we’re
told, ‘followed Jesus along the road.’ The story ends there but it is not hard
to imagine what must have happened later.
They say, ‘learning never ends’,
but we can get stuck in a way of thinking that says, ‘there is nothing I can
do’. Bartimaeus must have often thought so as he sat by the road. But he did
not give in to that thought. He was alert and ready when opportunity came by
and he instantly grabbed it. People told him to accept his situation. It was
hopeless. But he refused. He ‘threw off his cloak and jumped up and went to
Jesus.’
We do not need to say more,
except perhaps to remind ourselves that things do not have to be the way they
are. We can get so stuck and maybe discouraged. But there is always something
we can do. That is the beauty of being a human being. We can always grasp the
moment. We are getting towards Christmas, or more specifically Advent, and our
readings for the next month are going to hammer us in different ways with the simple
message, ‘Be alert!’ Watch! The buck in the bush is alert for danger. We are to
be alert for opportunity.
24 October 2021 Sunday 30B Jer 31:7-9 Heb
5:1-6 Mk 10:46-52
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