Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Blind to Our Blindness

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 11.20.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Luke 18:35-43

Friends, in today’s Gospel,
Jesus heals a blind man. The Lord asks,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
He replies, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus tells him,
“Have sight; your faith has saved you.”

Taking this story as their inspiration,
many of the Fathers of the Church said that it is through Christ’s power and presence
that we are able to see the world aright.
The problem is that we pretend we are not sinners;

we become blind to our blindness.
Often the most important step in one’s spiritual development
is an awakening to just how lost one is.

Dante’s Divine Comedy opens with the line:
“Midway on the journey of our life I awoke to find myself alone and lost in a dark wood,
having wandered from the straight path.”
Dante’s adventure of the spirit, which will take him from hell to purgatory to heaven,
can begin only when he wakes from a slumber of complacency and self-righteousness,
only when he comes to the painful realization that he stands in need of grace.

The breakthrough of God’s grace is sometimes a harsh and dreadful thing,
especially when it cracks open the defensive shell of our self-righteousness.

[MurphsLaw]

+++As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by,
he inquired what was happening. They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me!"
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
"What do you want me to do for you?"
He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.+++