“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn. 20,29)
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”(Mk.10,48). Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Christ healing a blind man – LE SUEUR, Eustache (WGoA)
Those who had eyesight looked at Jesus as only ‘Jesus of Nazareth’—“a carpenter’s son” (Mt.13,55). But the beggar who was blind perceived in his heart that this was ‘Jesus, Son of David’, and expressed his faith loudly. Holy Spirit of God tells us through St. Paul: “we walk by faith, not by sight”. (2 Cor.5,7)
Once a lady of about 62 years of age came to attend my retreat. She was blind. When she met me she said: “Father, for the last 60 years I was seeing the world with my eyes. Two years back I lost my eyesight. But now I can see Jesus with my inner eyes.” She was quite content even though she lost her eyesight. “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment” (1 Tim. 6,6).
What matters in our life is our sight of faith which enables us to see everything as God sees it. In order to see a three-dimensional film, one has to use particular glasses, so too is our sight of faith. The Psalmist says: “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Ps.19,1).The beautiful creation which we see with our physical eyes, should open our inner eyes to recognize it as the handiwork of God. If we do not have faith, we will miss this truth.
Also only if we have faith, we can see the hands of God in whatever happens in our lives. The sight of faith frees us from many a problem in our life, such as worry, sorrow, disappointment and depression. if we recognize that GOD OUR PROVIDENT FATHER HAS PERMITTED EVERYTHING FOR MY GOOD, along with St. Paul we can profess our faith in all adverse circumstances: “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him” (Rom. 8,28). Job of Old Testament had this faith as he was going through great peril, and hence even at the face of the teasing and ridicule of his wife, he could say: “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” (Job 1. 9,10)
Once when the disciples were sailing through a stormy sea, they got frightened seeing ‘somebody’ walking in the storm and they shouted: ‘it is a ghost’. But it was Jesus who was walking towards them and He strengthened them reassuring: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (Mt.14,27). The disciples had eyesight, but they did not recognize Jesus; Bartimaeus, the blind beggar was blind, yet he recognized Jesus. Where do I stand?? Do I have my physical eyes opened, but am blind in my spiritual eyes?
Let us pray :
“Open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him, and say that I love Him
Open my ears Lord, teach me to listen
Open my heart Lord, I want to love Jesus”
Fr.J.Mariakumar