Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant, and
whoever observed the law, was condemned to death by royal decree. But many in Israel were determined and
resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die
rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant;
and they did die. 1 Maccabees 1:62-63
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.” Luke 18:40-42
Piety
Jesus, Son of David, have
pity on me!
Study
Persistence. Last Saturday, we studied the Parable of the
Persistent Widow (or the Parable of the Reluctant Judge, depending upon your
point of view. Today, we can compare the
actions of the widow and the blind man or the judge and Jesus.
The widow and the blind
man teach us to “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians
5:17) This is a nice short verse with a
nice long meaning. Jesus’ actions in
healing the blind man show us the payoff to prayer and persistent prayer. It’s a lesson repeated over and over.
Action
Discouragement is
easy. Hope is difficult. St. Paul wants us to “hold fast to hope.” But if you are a blind outcast in ancient
Palestine, what hope is there? If you
are a patient with incurable cancer, what hope is there? If you have are laid off, with poor job prospects,
running out of unemployment benefits, what hope is there?
Our piety must be paired
with our actions. In the case of the blind
man, his action and piety merged as a sign of his faith. He was willing to publicly proclaim his faith
for all to hear – especially Jesus. How
public is your proclamation? How does
your piety support your actions and your actions get reinforced with the hope
of piety?
We may not be tested like
the blind man or the people in the first reading from Maccabees. However, we will be tested in other
ways. What we do now, will prepare us
for the test.
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