Wednesday, February 19, 2014. 6th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jas 1:19-27
Gospel: Mk 8:22–26
When Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, Jesus was asked to touch a blind man who was brought to him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had put spittle on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked, “Can you see anything?” The man, who was beginning to see, replied, “I see people! They look like trees, but they move around.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and the man could see perfectly. His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him home saying, “Do not return to the village.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life
Experience)
Every return of a sinner to the Lord is an insult which the devil does not take sitting down. Being no humble loser he fights tooth and nail to pull the convert back. Conversion therefore is a warfare which, considering the power of the enemy, must be fought with tenacity. For this purpose today’s Gospel gives us one useful hint: converts should no longer return to the same sinful path.
Today’s Gospel reading is about taking the better road. After healing the blind man Jesus sent him home with the instruction: “Do not return to the village.” (Mk. 8:26). The instruction was for practical reasons. Everyone in the village knew the man very well as a blind person. If he returned there as a healed man the community would search for Jesus out of curiosity and not because of genuine conversion.
The same instruction is beneficial for us today especially if we understand it to mean not returning to our old ways. When a convert traces the same evil path confident that he has the complete spiritual arsenal to fight temptations, he courts destruction. One can never be strong enough to fight inside the devil’s arena. The conversion of a sinner alarms hell and puts all satanic resources to work to pull the sinner back.
Conversion, to be complete, must not only consist of returning to God but also of turning away from sin in resoluteness. This implies the employment of radical steps to preserve God’s grace, like running away from occasions of sin and restructuring one’s lifestyle through the cultivation of good habits. The restructuring can be a painful process because it can even involve abandoning old friends. “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” is still a very sound maxim.
One who turns to God but returns to his old ways can be likened to a man who keeps arsonists off his house but plays with fire himself. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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