November 16, 2015
Monday, 33rd Week in
Ordinary Time
1st reading: 1 Mac 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64
Gospel: Lk 18:35–43
When Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging. As he heard the crowd passing by, he inquired what it was, and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by. Then he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people in front scolded him, “Be quiet!” but he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him, andwhen he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”And the man said, “Lord, that I may see!” Jesus said, “Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.” At once the blind man was able tosee, and he followed Jesus, giving praise to God. And all the peoplewho were there also praised God.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE(Daily
Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Prayer moments can be frustrating when factors beyond our control prevent us from crying out to God from the bottom of our hearts. It happened to the blind man in today’s Gospel reading. It was not enough that he was blind; they also wanted him to stay mute. Worse, they even wanted Jesus to play deaf! Despite these formidable obstacles, the blind man persevered in prayer.
The obstacles to the prayer of the blind man were third persons, not his very self. If it were so it would have been difficult for Jesus to restore to him his sight. There are some whose obstacles to prayer are their sinful lives. In a sense they too are blind. In their lucid spiritual moments they manage to muster remaining strength to rise up and confess their sins. But they find every occasion to rise up as a prelude to another fall. The sooner they are done confessing the quicker they resume the sinning. They are trapped in a never- ending cycle of rising and falling – a cycle that stays longer down at the trough than up the crest. Most of them give up and wallow in the mud of moral decay for good. They are victims of their very selves refusing to return to the Lord.
If the foregoing is your story, realize that to those who believe in the mercy of God there is always hope for forgiveness. Let the story of the blind man serve as an assurance that no matter how dark our alleys have become, we can always use any remaining flicker of light available to our conscience. When we allow this flicker to take us to the presence of the Lord, all we need to do is cry out for mercy as the blind man did. And when even crying out appears impossible, hold on, for Jesus will do the rest. After all, no prayer is ever left unheard! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT <message/ name/age/address> at i-send sa 4467.