We will see!

Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man answered, “I want to see.”

Pope Benedict XVI, in talking about faith, wrote that faith makes us see. Faith makes us see beyond the physical, beyond what we can touch or understand. Faith makes us see God, working in and around us. Faith makes us see Christ in our neighbors.

But sometimes there are obstacles to this faith. There are hindrances that blind us spiritually. Allow me to give three.

When we are full of ourselves – our successes, our achievements, our opinions – we begin to believe we are self-sufficient. We cling to the illusion of total independence. We fail to see what good other people offer us. We fail to see how much we need God. Then, pride blinds us.

When we are in pain and we allow it to close our hearts and to focus only on ourselves, making us withdraw from family and friends, then, we fail to see the giftedness of people around us. We fail to open up. Then, pain blinds us.

When we are too satisfied with how things are for ourselves, too comfortable, we become complacent. We fail to become sensitive to needs of other people and realize what we can do to make things better for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Then, comfort blinds us.

Pride, pain and comfort; they can make us spiritually blind.

May kasabihan po sa Pilipino:

Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog tulugan.

Mahirap makakita ang nagbubulag bulagan.

We may be spiritually blind and not know about it, or we may know about it and we just don’t care. The gospel today invites us to “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” The Lord is calling us. He is calling us to see with the eyes of faith. But we need to take courage, to get up and to pull down the blinders. When we do so, we will see!

Trust in God

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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The young man has a very valid question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? And the first answer of Jesus was obedience to the commandments. But the young man has done all that since childhood. And so, Jesus gave him a more personal, penetrating answer: Sell what you have and give to the poor, then, follow me.

Now, the question of the young man has been answered. Now, the young man knew what was necessary, what was needed to be done. But he went away sad for he had many possessions. The young man knew what was the right thing to do and did not do it. Why? For he did not trust Jesus enough. He trusted more his possessions; not the Lord.

I guess, in one way or another we are like the young man. We already know what to do. We know what is pleasing to the Lord. We know what is right, what is good. We have an inkling of what the Lord wants. We all know that we need to have faith, to serve, to help, to give, to share, to forgive. We all know we need to be honest, to be true, not to get what is not ours. We all know we need to turn away from sin, to overcome vices, to cast away pride, to conquer selfishness. 

We all know what to do. But, oftentimes, we don’t do it. Why? Because we rationalize; we justify. We say we are not ready. We say we still have time. We say God will understand. We say that it is not for me. 

But the bottom line is this: we do not do what we know we ought to do because like the young man in the gospel, we do not trust the Lord enough.

And so Jesus in the gospel today reminds us: “For human beings it is impossible, but nor for God. All things are possible for God.”

Do we trust him enough that when we say yes to him, he shall not abandon us? Do we trust him enough that when we surrender to him, he shall provide for us? Do we trust God enough?