Bartimaeus is one of the characters in the Gospels who serves as almost comic relief. Zacchaeus is another one who comes to mind. Zacchaeus was too short to see the Lord over the crowd, so he climbed a tree, and our Lord spotted him and told him to come down because He wanted to stay at Zacchaeus's house. Another is the man, not given a name, who was sick for thirty-eight years, waiting for someone to plunge him into the pool at Bethsaida so he could be cured, and our Lord picks him out of the crowd, walks over to him, and tells him to get up and walk, which he proceeds to do.

When I try to imagine this scene with Bartimaeus that we have for today's Gospel, I picture it in this way: All the city elders, the leaders of the synagogue in Jericho, have all gone to the edge of town to see this Jesus of Nazareth off, who had honored them with a visit to their city. They are solemnly escorting Him and His disciples out of town, with all the reverence due this rabbi whom everyone is talking about. All the townspeople have gathered along the road into the village and are jostling and nudging each other, whispering to each other as this man of God passes by. Then from somewhere in the crowd, you hear: "Jesus, Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The people around Bartimaeus scold him, "Quiet, you! Why do you think the Good Teacher would bother with the likes of you?!" But Bartimaeus takes another deep breath, "Jesus, have pity on me!"

Our Lord looks around to see who is calling His Name and then sends Peter and John over to find out who it is and what he wants. The townspeople are still shaking their heads and wagging their tongues at this undignified spectacle, but the disciples reassure Bartimaeus that he has nothing to fear from Jesus. They lead the blind man to Jesus who asks, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And then Bartimaeus states the obvious, "Rabboni, I want to see!"

And so he does, because he had enough faith to call on the Name of the Lord in his hour of need. Everyone else was too busy paying Him respect, jostling for positions close to Him, caught up in the excitement, the thrill of the moment. But Bartimaeus thought to himself, "If what they're saying about this man is true, then I've got to find out for myself. If anyone can cure me of my blindness, He's the one: Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

And in those few words, not only did sight come to Bartimaeus, but salvation as well, for we are told that Bartimaeus, right then and there, began to follow Jesus up the road.

And the most important of the words that Bartimaeus shouted that day was the first one, "Jesus". The Holy Name of Jesus, the only Name by which we can be saved, the Name at which every knee must bend in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, the Name above every other name. Because there is power in the Name; in itself, it is the most perfect prayer we can utter, because when we say the Holy Name of Jesus in faith and in love, we are acknowledging, we are recognizing, we are giving thanks for the salvation won for us in Christ. The Holy Name of Jesus sums up all the love that God has for us as well as all the love we have for God in return, because our Lord is the manifestation, the Incarnation of that Love for us.

And that is why it should be unthinkable, inconceivable for any Christian to use the Holy Name of Jesus in any way but in faith and in love. Once we have said the Name of Jesus, once we have prayed the Name of Jesus in faith and in love, how can we then turn and use that same Holy Name in anger and in exasperation? We would not use the name of our spouse, or our children, or our friends as expletives, would we? How then can we treat the Holy Name in that way, the Name of Him who alone is our salvation, our happiness, our joy?

We Catholics have traditionally had ways that we've shown respect for the Holy Name that we seem to have let slip by the wayside. It was traditional that whenever the Holy Name was used in public prayer, that we would simply bow our heads in reverence of the Name - a simple action, one that is not of earth-shattering importance, but a practice that serves to remind ourselves of who we are, of whom we belong to, of the gratitude that should be ours for the salvation won for us in Christ. The early Christians in Jerusalem and elsewhere used to consider themselves blessed if they were singled out by the persecutors to suffer for the Name, the Name they were forbidden to use, the Name that they were proud to proclaim to the ends of the earth.

Bartimaeus had the right idea. May each of us be as quick as he was to call upon the Name of the Lord in our hour of need. May the first words on our lips, spoken in faith and in love, be forever "Jesus, Jesus!" Amen.