By Wesley Omondi
VATICAN CITY, OCTOBER 29, 2024 (CISA)— At the closing Mass for the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held from October 2 to 27, 2024, Pope Francis called on the Catholic Church to become a “missionary Church,” attuned to the suffering of humanity. Drawing from the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar healed by Jesus, the Pope encouraged the Church to embody Bartimaeus’s faith and deep desire to encounter Christ.
“Today’s Gospel presents us with Bartimaeus, a blind man forced to beg at the side of the road, an outcast lacking hope. Yet, when he heard Jesus passing by, he began to shout after him,” said Pope Francis in his homily.
The Pope emphasized that the Church must not remain “sedentary” but should instead be dynamic and responsive, recognizing the world’s suffering and actively addressing it. He explained that Bartimaeus’s state reflects the inertia that can sometimes characterize the Church, and he warned against complacency in faith.
“A sedentary Church, that inadvertently withdraws from life and confines itself to the margins of reality, is a Church that risks remaining blind and becoming comfortable with its own unease,” he noted.
Pope Francis reminded the congregation that God “always hears the cry of the poor” and urged the Church to tune into the cries of the marginalized. In doing so, he said, the Church will follow in the footsteps of Christ, who stopped for Bartimaeus despite the crowd’s rebuke.
“The Lord always passes by and pauses in order to attend to our blindness,” Pope Francis explained, urging the faithful to recognize and respond to God’s presence in their lives.
The Pope described a synodal Church as one that walks in unity, listens to the voices of the world, and is willing to engage deeply with humanity’s challenges. He called for a Church that embraces the cries of humanity rather than shying away from them, stressing the need to actively serve those in need.
“The Church does this when it takes up the cry of all the women and men of the world…the cry of those who suffer, of the poor and marginalized, of children who are enslaved,” the Holy Father proclaimed.
Bartimaeus’s transformation from a beggar to a follower of Christ serves as a model for the Church, Pope Francis stated. The Church, he insisted, must be a place where individuals are restored, empowered, and set on a path to serve others.
“Bartimaeus, from where he was sitting, jumped up on his feet and immediately afterwards regained his sight. Now he can see the Lord and finally set out to follow him,” he said.
Pope Francis concluded his message with a powerful call for the Church to persevere in its mission, journeying alongside Christ through the world’s streets. He reminded the faithful that true discipleship involves stepping out of comfort zones and wholeheartedly embracing the call to serve.
“Not a static Church, but a missionary Church that walks with her Lord through the streets of the world,” he concluded, affirming the Church’s role as an agent of unity, mercy, and action.
