Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up. Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: «Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease».
My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, o Jerusalem.
“His sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly”
Fr. Joaquim MESEGUER García (Rubí, Barcelona, Spain)Today, with another miracle, Jesus shows us the process of faith. Curing the blind in two stages tells us that faith is not always an instantaneous light that falls upon us, but rather a certain itinerary that takes us to the light and allows us to see clearly. Yet, the first step of faith—to begin seeing God's light— is already a reason for joy. Saint Augustine says: “Once the eyes have been cured, what else can we, o brothers, have more valuable? Let those who can see that light enjoy it, whether it flares in the sky or comes from a torch. And how unhappy should they feel those who cannot see it!”
Arriving to Bethsaida Jesus is asked to touch a blind man who is brought to Him. It is significant that Jesus takes him outside the village; is that not an indication that to listen to the word of God, to discover the faith and see the reality of Christ, we have to get out of ourselves, out of the noisy spaces and times that asphyxiate and blind us, to receive the authentic enlightenment?
Once outside the village, Jesus “Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, ‘Do you see anything?’” (Mk 8:23). That gesture reminds us of the Baptism: Jesus does not put any more spittle on our eyes but He completely bathes our being in the water of salvation and, all along our life, He questions us about what we see in the light of faith. “Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly” (Mk 8:25); this second time reminds us of the Sacrament of Confirmation, when we are given the plenitude of the Holy Spirit to reach the maturity of faith and see clearer. To be baptized, but neglect the Confirmation, allows us to see, indeed, but only half way.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“God proposes the mysteries of faith to our souls amidst obscurities and darkness. But the act of faith consists in this very acquiescence of our spirit, which has received the grateful light of truth” (Saint Francis de Sales)
“Let us allow ourselves to be healed by Jesus, who can and wants to give us God's light. Let us confess our blindness, our shortsightedness, and especially what the Bible calls the ‘great transgression’: pride.” (Benedict XVI)
“Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on them. In his name the apostles will do the same. Even more pointedly, it is by the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given (…).” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 699)
