The power of warm hospitality-Bartimaeus (Mark 10 46-52)

• The health care industry indcates that the new epidemic is social isolation and loneliness. People are in need of human contact and real relationships. There is a darkness and isolation, much like Bartimaeus in the Gospel today. People would ignore him and tried to silence him. He lived in physical darkness as he was blind, and he was a social outcast being rejected by the people around him. Once Jesus learns that Jesus is walking by, he shouts out hoping to get his attention. Father Matthew explains what Jesus does in response to Bartimaeus, transforming the quality of his life and his direction. You and I can have this same impact on each other. We can help to transform someone's life by how we greet and listen to one another. Father Matthew then reflects on our own behaviour before and after Mass. He asks if we are afraid or isolated as well. He invites us to mingle, and to get to know one another. His dream is that we all know each other by name. This is how Bartimaeus was able to be healed.