MONDAY OF THE 33RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

15TH NOVEMBER 2021

THE POWER OF FAITH

1Mc 1:10-15,41-43, 54-57, 62-63;

Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158;

Gospel Luke 18:35-43

In today’s gospel, we find Jesus going to Jerusalem to participate in the feast of Passover. At Jericho, there was a big crowd of pilgrims walking along, listening to Jesus’ teaching. Beggars used to sit on both sides of the road, as the pilgrims were very generous, and the people used to line up on the roadside to greet the pilgrims. A blind beggar on the roadside was told by his friends that Jesus of Nazareth, the miracle worker, was passing by.

In this episode, though Jesus is the one performing the miracle, he is not the main figure but the blind man himself, whom to be saved he took some necessary steps important even for us today: First, he looked for Jesus immediately he was told that Jesus was passing by; second, he called Jesus as Son of God; third, he talked o Jesus and presented his worries; at last Jesus saw that all the steps above were moved by great faith and he responds to his worries. It is important to notice that in the fourth step he finds people who rebuke him to keep silent but he cried out all the more that is why his faith is big enough to save him.

We, too, need healing from our spiritual blindness which makes us incapable of seeing and appreciating the living presence of God within ourselves and others. For that healing, we also require the same trusting Faith the blind man displayed in the healing power and mercy of Jesus, and the same persevering persistence in our prayers. We need to pray with conviction, urgency and. constancy. 2) We need to repeat the prayer of the blind man, “Lord, let me receive my sight,” when our Faith is feeble when we cannot understand the reason behind God’s plans, and when our commitments become shaky. God gave us eyes so that we can see. God gave us a heart so that we can see better. Let us use them all the time.