Monday, November 14,
2016
From today’s Gospel passage
(Monday of the 33rd week in Ordinary Time):
Jesus is walking by and a blind
beggar calls out, “Son of David, have pity on me!” People rebuked him and tried
to silence him, but he called out all the more. Jesus heeds his call and
approaches him and asks, “What do you
want me to do for you?” The beggar asks, “Lord, please let me see.” And his
sight is immediately restored. Jesus says to him, “your faith has saved you.” (Luke 18-35-43)
My reflection for today focuses
on the two statements in bold print above.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
It is good to replay that
question in our heart when we come to prayer. What do you want Him to do
for you today? It may take time and reflection to answer this question, for
sometimes, we do not know how to ask, and at other times, our faith may be too
weak to take into account that He is willing to help us in all things, the
mundane as well as the spectacular, and it is often difficult to focus on the
mundane. What do I ask for today? I ask for the self-discipline to work
my way through my daily tasks, for this is not a high-energy day for me. How
about you? What do you want Him to do for you today?
“Your faith has saved you.”
The beggar’s faith is great and
persistent and urgent. Even though he is blind, he has been given the grace to
realize that the one passing by is the hope of Israel, and even though he is
blind, he has been given the grace to beg for pity, and then to ask to have his
sight restored. And his faith is praised.
Faith is a theological virtue
that comes from God and is poured into our hearts from outside of us. This is important
to realize because it is a gift given, not an innate quality or
capacity. Don’t protest that your faith is too weak. As for more, and maybe
that will be your request for today. The blind beggar, pour and helpless that
he was, received a strong infusion of faith which, as Jesus said, ended up
saving him and bringing him a further blessing that was not in his power to
bestow on himself.
As I ask for self-discipline
today, I believe that it is not within me on this particular day; I am asking
the Lord to supply what is lacking in me. In doing this, I am following the
admonition of Saint Benedict in his Rule: What
is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of
his grace. (Prologue, v. 41).
(And, by the way, another thing
I ask for repeatedly is that I may be able to see beyond appearances.
You might do well to think about your
own personal blindness in making your prayer to the Son of David today.)
Ask.
God bless you!
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