The Blind Man

Homily for Monday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

So often in our lives, I think we can be blind to how the Lord is moving and acting in our hearts and in our minds. We can fail to see how He is calling us into deeper relationship and into a deeper sense of trust in Him. That blindness so frequently comes from a place of feeling unworthy. We think that we are unworthy to receive God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy because of the things that we have done in the past, the mistakes we have made, the sins we have committed. But it can also come from a place of being wounded at the very core of who we are. Sometimes, things happen to us that affect us so deeply that they change how we see ourselves.

This morning, the Lord is inviting us to take a deeper look at our hearts, to journey into the very depths of ourselves to see where we need Him the most. And He asks us the question: what do you want me to do for you? Just as Jesus restored the sight of the blind man, He wants to bring us to fullness of life. He wants to restore us in every way possible.

Jesus already knows what we need before we ask Him. He is already dwelling within us and knows the healing that we need the most. But He is also a gentleman and won’t go anywhere that He is not first invited to go. We have to humbly approach Him and invite Him into our hearts, into those areas where we have experienced hurt from things that have happened to us, or those areas of our hearts that need healing from the things that we have done.

The blind man knew that Jesus could heal him. He was so convinced that he would be heard by Jesus that he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Do we have that same conviction? Do we have that same desire for Jesus to heal us? Today, may we ask for that grace. May we ask for the courage to call out to Jesus, asking for His healing, and inviting Him into our hearts ever more deeply.

Painting: Healing of Blind Man of Jericho, by Lucas van Leyden. Used under public domain. Wikicommons.