30 Sunday Ordinary Time, B, 28 October 2012, Mark 10:46-52

The Way

The 'Camino'

I want to speak to you this morning about salvation. A couple of years ago, the well-known Catholic actor, Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, collaborated on a film called 'The Way'. Martin Sheen plays Tom, a wealthy American businessman, a 'boomer', i.e. someone who was born just after World War II, for whom the core values of life are making money and working to make that money.

Emilio Estevez plays Tom's son, Daniel. At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Tom and Daniel, just as Tom is driving Daniel to the airport in his lovely Jaguar car. They are arguing over what Daniel is going to do with his life. It is then that we discover that Daniel is flying to Spain to take part in 'The Way of St James, better known in Spanish as 'El Camino de Santiago', or simply 'The Camino'. A little while into the film, Daniel's father, Tom, gets the phone call to say that Daniel has died while making the pilgrimage. Tom make his way to Spain, where he identifies Daniel's body and is given the relics of Daniel's life. These include the accoutrements of the walking pilgrimage – a backpack, jeans, hiking boots and a rainjacket, a journal and some rosary beads. It is at this moment that something happens to Tom that makes him decide to make the pilgrimage for his son Daniel.

Salvation

So, salvation. What does it really mean? There are loads of things that we can say about salvation, but I'm going to share three with you today.

1.We might have a very small, narrow and reduced understanding of salvation which means to get into heaven when we die. This is the salvation that we might be worried about for our loved ones who have passed before us. We might be worried about them, or we might be very sure about them, or indeed we might not really know. There's nothing wrong with this, provided we understand it as merely one aspect of salvation, and not the be all and end all of salvation.

2.Another kind of salvation that we could have in mind is a the kind of idea that says if somebody has been saved, if they have experienced salvation, then they'll be really wealthy! This kind of salvation understands blessing in the sense of prosperity. So, we might be wondering where God is in the tough financial times! In a way, this is the God of Tom in our movie. Or, rather, God becomes reduced to money, prosperity, career and success.

3.The best understanding of salvation, the one that we find in the gospel this evening is a kind of salvation as a renewal, or a reconnection, or as a restoration. The blind man in the gospel is told by Jesus: “Go, your faith has saved you.” This tells us that faith, in Jesus, is fundamental to salvation, because it is through the encounter with Jesus that salvation in the fullest sense is achieved by Bartimaeus.

Jericho, Joshua and Jesus

The gospel passage for today is set on the outskirts of Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world, and the city where the Israelites were led in to the Promised Land. They were led by Joshua – which would be like calling me Sean, instead of John. Joshua is old Hebrew for the name Jesus. Jesus means Joshua – both names mean 'one who saves'. For the first hearers of the gospel, this would have been obvious. So, for Bartimaeus, the bling beggar this 'one who saves' is: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David, Jesus, Rabbuni, Master. For us, he is Lord, he is Son of God, he is the Christ, the anointed one. And this 'one who saves' offers us salvation too.

Conclusion

In short, then, salvation is to become fully alive, i.e. to become fully a part of the human community and the divine community. These two are fundamentally linked in Jesus of Nazareth, and so it is only in Jesus that we, that all of humanity can achieve the fullness of life that salvation is. The Church then, as the human and divine community of faith, is the core way that we have to encounter Jesus in and through our encounters with other people, with the Word of God and with the mysteries of faith, the Sacraments.