Lord, that I may see!

1 Macc. 1:10-15.41-43.54-57.62-64, Lk. 18:35-43. Today's first reading describes the revolt of the Jews who are willing to stand up for their belief, even to the point of dying. The Greeks, particularly Antiochus Epiphanes want to remove the local religions and establish a universal Hellenic culture based on Greek mythology and practices. While many of the Jews in Jerusalem discovered that accepting the Greek way of life is financially and politically advantageous, a great number abandoned their Jewish traditions and practices so that they can participate in the Greek style of living. They profane the Sabbath by working and eat pork and other “defiled” food. With such apostasy, the Maccabeenians became particularly vocal in their hatred of their fellow Jews who abandoned the practices of the faith and sold out to the Greek way of living.

The Psalmist captures the sentiments of the faithful Jews in their loathing of the apostate fellow countryfolk. The defection from the true religion is seen as a direct affront against God and rejection of the salvation which God has given to the faithful. The blind man in today's Gospel was aware of the healing power in Jesus and would not be deterred by the actions of the crowd. The blind man sitting at the Jericho gate needed the restoration of his eyesight, so he asked Jesus aloud, “Lord, that I may see!” Even when the bystanders wanted to silence him, he was willing to take his chances and shouted even more loudly. After receiving the gift of his sight, he began to follow Jesus, giving glory to God. Undeterred by other people’s intolerant attitude, he models for us what persevering prayer looks like. It was driven by his need and his confidence in Jesus. Our own heartfelt petition can be driven by some deep need we feel. In bringing our need to God we open ourselves for a blessing, just as the blind man did when he brought his need to Jesus. He did not cease to pray when he was healed, though now his prayer was changed to thanksgiving and praise. The prayer of thanks may not come as naturally to us as the prayer of need, but we have much to thank God for. The blind man teaches us not to forget to say thanks for all the ways the Lord has blessed us.

May the Lord grant us grace and strong will to overcome all obstacles that obstruct us from reaching God! Amen!! Good morning and have a fruitful week!!!