The Inner Light

Today’s Gospel Text:  And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae'us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae'us, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is calling you." 50 And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight." 52 And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:46-52

Reflection: Blindness is like the darkness that does not enable us to see the things around us.

Our eyes may be open and we may search and seek out and yet we may never find the things unless we are familiar with the surroundings.

How then can the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, perhaps blind from birth, be familiar with the things around him?

A blind man can work with assistance from outside because his other senses may still be working and enlightening his various faculties.  

The poor and the handicapped are more open to take the help of the other and are much dependent on external help to lead them anywhere or rather those who acknowledge their poverty and handicap are blessed, they shall seek that external help and may not easily fall into a ditch.  

Thus there may have been many blind men in and around Jericho and yet it was only Bartimaeus who cried with a faith for that real and true external help that made the miracle possible; a help that never deceives. 

Deep within the blind man may still feel the burden of burdening others with his handicap, even though in reality the handicapped are always a blessing to the community because they teach us the essential things of life, things that can ultimately lead us to eternal life. 

One of the essential things that they teach us is that we too are handicapped in some measure or the other and our pride may blind us to this reality. 

We do not know why they are handicapped but God is closer to them in a special way and is always willing to help them if only they know how to acknowledge and seek him.

And who is a handicapped? Is it the one whose eyesight fails him or is it the one whom the world sees and recognizes as one or is it the one who in their deepest being feel the need for help to take them out of their misery?

Yes, the world may not recognize the deeper handicap of every human being and even that situation is a situation of being handicapped but it is only those who know and acknowledge their handicapped nature and turn to the savior Jesus Christ,who alone can help, they will be the ones who will find their salvation.

Prayer: "In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. 2 Sam 22:7

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Expose to the Light

Today’s Gospel Text: And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear." 24 And he said to them, "Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Mark 4:21-25

Reflection: One of the freedoms we demand is the freedom of privacy and as per the laws of human right it is guaranteed in the constitutions of many nations, who have signed the United Nations charter on human rights.

The right to privacy usually guarantees to a certain defined extent when, where and how much of personal information could be disclosed by an individual.

It is a happy law for the many of us in the world who could go through a nightmare if the hidden things of our lives were to be made public.

Embarrassment, hurt, pain, betrayal, distress are some of the deepest feeling that we struggle with when exposed either rightly or wrongly, by the cautious or the overcautious.   

Despite all these freedoms of privacy laws, the Lord is cautioning us about the ultimate day, if not now when we will have to face the exposure of disclosure before the king and judge and then it will be public knowledge, whether we like it or not.

The exposure is sure and is inevitable; everything hidden in darkness has to be manifest by the light of Christ and what is secret will be manifest. (vs.22) 

But for us Christian we could avoid the great embarrassment by bringing things to the light of Christ through the Sacrament of reconciliation, which makes things practical and easy.

The light of Christ thus shining on the darkened area dispels everything that is not of his kingdom and clears our consciences to face him on that day without fear or anxiety.

Believe in what Christ claims about himself; as the light of the world, a light that dispels all darkness. Turn to his merciful love and forgiveness offered to us once and for all on the Cross.

Prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting! Ps 139:23-24

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Witness of the Light

Today’s Gospel Text: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 15 (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") 16 And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. John 1:1-18

Reflection: Is the world so bad that it requires someone to be exclusively born in this world, only to bear witness to the light?

Isn't light a powerful tool in itself that is able to bear witness of itself or rather requires no witness in its manifestation?

In fact every dark secrets and hidden objects are made manifest by light. Hence what witness does light require that it should be made known to us.

The gospel statement first of all clearly means that we are blind to the TRUE LIGHT or are not able to recognize the light or that the light we see is not really light even though the whole world agrees, with their scientific abilities, that something is to be called light, yet it cannot be called light? (we are talking here about light and yet not about light in the sense we see light as light)

In other words, humans are in serious trouble, how can we ever live without light and that too all our life we have come to believe that the light that we are living in is the true light that is sustaining us.

We better pull up our socks and be ready to listen to what the witness has to say and the direction he is leading humanity into.

What is worse, the scripture tells us that by nature (sinful) we choose darkness rather than light. (like nocturnal creatures, but that would be natural, but what do we say about a person who prefers to be in a dark room always on account of mental depression) (cfr. Jn. 3:19) 

What is more, the scripture passage also reveals to us that the light is meek but powerful while the darkness is active and yet never a winner against the light.

The witness to the light reveals to us that this light is Jesus Christ. He was made fully and completely manifest high on the cross for us, so that believing in his name we may walk in the light as he is.  

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are light of the world, let me walk in your revealed light that I may never walk in the stumbling darkness.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

The Light of Christ

Today’s Scripture: Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali, 14 that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 "The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles -  16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  Matt 4:12-16

Reflection: John the Baptist is arrested and Jesus moves away from the situation, away from his own home town. He may have smelt danger and hostility.

This Jesus is unlike the Jesus we hear of from the social activist or the one which many think of or proclaim about. He chose not to confront the situation which was charged with hostility. This action of Jesus seemed to be cowardly. For even otherwise God’s humble action many a times seems cowardly.

In life we may similarly face many a battles and more so in our times as the voice of the godless grows in our times.

Jesus expects us to withdraw.

Just as the sun has to withdraw in the light of the moonlight so we too may have to do so in the face of the onslaught of darkness. But this in no way diminishes the power of the sun in whose light the moon basks and all darkness ultimately ebbs.  Be the sun by following the Son!

Prayer:  Lord, in our darkness there is no darkness with you with us as the light that dispels all darkness.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us