THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, 2023

Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr 

Sir 42:15-25

Ps 33

Mark 10:46-52

Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr 

Master, I want to see it.

I have always admired the tenacity of the blind man of Jericho in today’s gospel reading (Mk 10:46-52). Hearing that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, ‘Son of David, Jesus, pity me’. When some of the crowd around Jesus gave out to him and told him to be quiet, he only shouted out his prayer all the louder. He was determined to make contact with Jesus and would not succumb to the pressure of others to hold his tongue. 

He strikes me as a good model for us today. It is not always easy to bear witness to our faith in Jesus in today’s world. Like the blind man by the roadside in today’s gospel reading, we can feel a certain pressure to keep quiet, to become invisible about our faith in the Lord. Yet, this tenacious man encourages us to keep the Lord in view, regardless of the pressure to do otherwise. 

In the gospel reading, Jesus’ response to the man was very different from the crowd’s response to him. They wanted to silence him. In contrast, Jesus asked the very people who were trying to silence the man to call him over. Amid the hostility towards him, the Lord called him. Similarly, the Lord keeps calling out to us even in those contexts that are not supportive of our relationship with him. If we try to respond to the Lord’s call as generously as Bartimaeus did, the Lord will be as generous with us as he was with him.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, may I never fail to recognize my need for your grace and mercy. Strengthen my faith and trust in you that I may seek your presence daily and listen to your word with readiness to follow you who are my All. Amen 

+Remain blessed!