Luke 18: 35-43 (Monday, November 19, 2007)

The story in today’s gospel teaches us two things: persistence in prayer and response to the needs of those around us. The blind man continues to beckon on Jesus to have pity on him even when the followers of Jesus tried to stop him. He knows that Jesus can change his situation. Although Jesus was very much engaged ministering the word to his companions, he knew that he must stop and respond to the immediate needs of this blind man. Jesus Christ asked him directly what he wanted and without any mincing of words, the man responded that he want to see. Some times even when we want a miracle, we are afraid to receive it. Like St. Augustine who use to pray, “Lord give me chastity, but not now,” sometimes that is the way we approach God when we bring our problems to him. We want to receive solutions but at the same time we are afraid of the radical changes that this encounter with the Lord might bring to our lives. Like the blind man, let us directly tell the Lord what we want him to do for us and let us joyfully accept his gift of healing that he offers us.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, like the blind man in today’s gospel, we bring to you all the blind spots of our lives. Some of them we are even ashamed of sharing with you. We ask you to heal us and make us whole again.