Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 8: 22-26

The people of Bethsaida brought a blind man to Jesus. Although he did not ask Jesus to heal him, or maybe he did not even ask to be brought to Jesus, Jesus heals him at the request of his friends. But there is a curious description in this healing story. Jesus took his hand and led him outside the village. Mark has an important message to communicate in writing this. when Jesus touches our hearts, he takes us by hand, leads us to regain our sight, helps us to become conscious of our disillusioned way of living, encourages us to leave our previous environment and lifestyle and change our behaviour. There are numerous occasions when the evil around us keep us blind and we do not even realise that we need a healing. The forces that tries to steal our attention from Jesus; that tries to steal our dignity; that tries to allure us to egoistic desires of power, prestige, pleasure and possessions – all these keep us blind to the mercy of God. Still, the infinite Mercy of God restores and recreates us- physically, psychologically, morally, emotionally, spiritually … The healing of the blind happens gradually. When he begins to see, he begins to have a blurred vision. This is exactly how Jesus works in our lives too. He opens our eyes through His Word, little by little: The more we listen to it, the more we meditate on the Words of Jesus, the more we become conscious of the reality we live in – our vision of the will of God and his plans for us becomes clearer to us – For this, we must allow the Lord to lead us out of the village of our prejudices, misconceptions and comfort zones. All this process began with a group of friends who brought this blind man to Jesus. This is the same as when we intercede for someone who needs help, to be freed from the blinding slavery to sin. We have the responsibility of praying for others, and to help them to come before the Lord. It is important to identify those forces that blind us today: The media and their advertisements accuse us for not being beautiful enough, for not being rich enough, for not being free and strong enough … if you do not do what is being advertised. They blind us to buy their products. Pope Francis has recently warned the faithful of their misconceptions on solo living, autonomy and self-sufficiency which result in Catholic couples refusing to have children but raise dogs and cats instead. We are the blind who needs the healing today. There are many Catholics who believe abortion, mercy-killing, wars, genocide etc are the norm of the day. The world is blind – it stands in need of healing.