Have a good heckle

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how prayer can be likened to heckling God – and he doesn’t seem to mind at all!

Readings for Monday in the 33rd week of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64; Psalm 119.53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158; Luke 18.35-43

Heckling in political speeches or meetings has been around for a long time. Someone objects to what is being said on stage, and so they make their feelings known very loudly. The difference today is that the moment when a heckler gets up is often captured on television or smartphone cameras, and all of the action – from the startled look on the face of the speaker, to the heckler themselves, to the person being being bustled out of the hall by security – is replayed endlessly on the news or online. Often it’s not very clear what the heckler wants. Do they have a genuine grievance, are they seeking simply to disrupt the speech or meeting, or are they wanting publicity?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus faces a sort of heckler, though he’s not speaking at the time. He is simply drawing near to Jericho and passes a blind beggar at the roadside. Hearing that Jesus is coming past, the man starts shouting out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’. A bit like in a political meeting, those around Jesus try to tell him to be quiet, but this makes him shout all the louder. Jesus himself doesn’t seem to mind this noise and disturbance. In fact, he comes up to the man and asks what he wants, what is causing him to shout out, and the man replies that he wants his sight back. Perhaps it was his desperation for healing that led him to make such a scene. Once the man has been healed, we are told that he doesn’t pipe down – he is still vocal, but this time his words have changed from a cry of anguish and a plea for healing to glorifying and praising God.

The passage tells us a lot about how we should approach God in prayer. He doesn’t mind if we shout or holler, or cry out in despair. He will never shoo us away, but will come to us in our need and gently ask what is on our heart. He will always seek to bring healing in the midst of our difficulties, so that, like the blind man who was healed, our cries of despair may turn into shouts of joyful praise.