Sunday, 24 October

Coptic Icon of the healing of Bartimaeus

Our 10 o’clock Eucharist will be live-streamed to You Tube. The stream will begin at 9:45 with a welcome and musical prelude, and the service begins at 10 am. You can also take part in the service at a later time!

The order of service is available here.

This Sunday is the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost. We’ll hear the conclusion of the book of Job (Job 42.1-6, 10-17). We’ll also hear Jesus restoring the sight of Bartimaeus, and how he then follows Jesus (Mark 10.46-52).

Jesus cures the man born blind – John 9:1-41

The Sundays and Seasons resource offers this brief reflection on the readings.

Can we pray the way Bartimaeus prays? People try to hush him up because by addressing Jesus as “Son of David” he is making a politically dangerous claim that Jesus is the rightful king. Could our prayers ever be heard as a threat to unjust powers that be? Bartimaeus won’t give up or go away quietly, but repeats his call for help more loudly. Do we ask so boldly? And are our prayers an honest answer to Jesus’ question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The final image is from the Jesus Mafa project. “Jesus cures the man born blind”, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48383 [retrieved October 22, 2021]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).