In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives this blind man two priceless gifts: Not only did he receive the joy of physical sight, he also received the far greater gift of faith.
Because of these two gifts, the man was so overwhelmed with gratitude and awe that he fell down at the Lord’s feet and worshipped him right there in the middle of the crowded Temple.
Of these two gifts, which one do you think the man value more? His actions give us the answer: He stood up to the powerful Pharisees, defending Christ’s lordship, even though it meant being expelled from the synagogue.
We’ve also received two priceless gifts from God: our physical life and our spiritual life. Which do we value more? Sadly, we often prefer the lesser gifts to the greater gifts. Can you imagine how much we hurt God when we do this?
We Often Wound His Sacred Heart
Jesus made this quite clear in his revelation to St Margaret Mary, a 17th Century nun, who received from him the powerful devotion to the Sacred Heart. While at prayer the Lord appeared to her with his five wounds shining like brilliant stars and his Sacred Heart burning like a fiery furnace. Then he revealed his great love for all humanity and how hurt he is when we reject his friendship.
He told her, “Behold this heart that has loved men so much that it has spared nothing to testify to them its love. And in return I receive from most of them only ingratitude by their irreverence and their sacrileges and by the coldness and contempt they have for me.”
He clarified that he wasn’t speaking of only criminals and sinners, but of those who claim to be his followers but had fallen into routine and empty worship. This sounds harsh, but because his love is so deep for us, our ingratitude is very painful to him. His love, his friendship, our faith, the Sacraments of the Church—these are the gifts we should value most.
How to Grow in Your Faith
All of us are making an effort to follow Jesus, and yet, we still fail. It’s only by strengthening our faith that we can take advantage of God’s great love for us. There are two ways we can do this:
First, ask God to strengthen it for us. Just as the blind man asked Jesus to show him the Messiah, we can ask God to show us his presence, his truth, and his love.
Second, we can boldly defend our faith. When the blind man was interrogated by the Pharisees, he bore witness to Christ. The more they tried to intimidate him, the more courageously he bore witness. The eyes of his soul were opened until he saw in Jesus not just a godly man, not just a prophet, but the very Messiah himself.
This week, God will give each of you a chance to boldly bear witness to him. Be courageous and faithful, so that you and others may be filled more and more with the saving light of faith.