20-Nov-17

Gospel LK 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me!"
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
"What do you want me to do for you?"
He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
Reflection:
"As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more....."
The blind man begging by the side of the road would have been considered an outcast from society; he was someone people would have walked by without a glance.
Rather than being a part of the community, he would have been a part of the landscape.
Upon hearing that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The crowd saw the blind man as a nuisance, an embarrassment to their community, so they tried to silence him. But, he ignored them.
Instead, he continued to call out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him.
When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Interestingly, we are told that Jesus "ordered" that this blind man, this person the community was trying to silence, be "brought to him..."
Jesus did not see the blind beggar as a nuisance, an outcast, or an embarrassment.
Jesus saw him as his brother, and aside from public opinion, He was determined to help him.
Since December of 1991, "Robbie," who has serious physiological challenges, has shown up at My Brother's Keeper every day.
Disheveled, with matted hair down to his shoulders, he comes with his tales of woe. We welcome him with a cup of coffee, a bite to eat, and a few dollars to get him through the day.
"Robbie" often joins us for morning prayer. When "Robbie" offers his personal prayer intentions, a deep silence permeates the prayer room.
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
Although "Robbie" is not blind like the beggar sitting by the road in Jericho, in his travels he is an outcast, and more often than not, considered to be a nuisance and embarrassment.
I thank God for sending "Robbie" to My Brother's Keeper.
'Robbie" is a gift to us from Jesus so that we may "have sight" to see our own blessings, and in doing so, we may give "praise to God."

"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
Mark Twain