John Desing csc –
Readings: Rev 1: 1-4, 2: 1-5; Lk 18: 35-43
We all stand in need of God’s grace all the time. Our good intentions and noble works don’t make us meritorious of grace.
The first reading tells us that in spite of our efforts and endurance to be faithful to God, there is still a chance of being complacent, half-hearted, and mediocre in the course of time because we have abandoned the driving force or the key to obedience, faithfulness, and willpower, i.e., love.
Therefore, we need to reflect and notify the root cause of our falling away from the love of God. Reorienting our lives in the light of the Gospel and in faith that Jesus loves me more than the world can give should be our daily spiritual exercise.
Likewise, in the Gospel, we find a blind beggar desperately asking Jesus to have pity on him and to heal him because he wanted to see again. ‘To see again’ shows that he was not blind once upon a time. However, after he became blind, he realised the preciousness of his sight.
We ask ourselves, how clear or how blurry is my spiritual vision? Perhaps when we place ourselves in the shoes of a blind man, we will realise how much we need to regain our vision. For we have become blind to the reality around us, failing to see the image of Jesus in others.
That’s why we continue to pull down one another’s feet. When money speaks, we become blind to the truth. The point here is that, having realised the mistakes and failures, we need to take a step forward.
God’s grace is always there to help us see better.