Wednesday February 16, 2022

Tuesday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time

 

True Worship

James tells us that if we believe in a message of life and hope, real faith and real worship of God consist in doing what we believe in, and in reflecting in our attitude and deeds God’s love for us by being concerned about people far and near, especially those who are neglected and suffer much. Is this the kind of faith we have?

 

First Reading: James 1:19-27 

Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

 

Gospel: Mark 8:22-26 

They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.”

 

Prayer

Lord God, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ, your living Word
you address yourself today
to each of us personally
and as a community of faith.
May we live as we believe
as hearers and doers of your word,
and like you and your Son,
be compassionate and care
for those often neglected by society,
the needy, the abandoned, the distressed.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

 

Raising cats and dogs instead of kids is blindness

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.

 

Video available in Youtube: Raising cats and dogs instead of kids is blindness