THE WORD
Is 29: 17–24 /Mt 9: 27–31
As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed (him), crying out, “Son of
David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.
IN OTHER WORDS
The time: At the crack of dawn.
The place: SVD Residence atop a hill in Talamban, Cebu City.
I’ve just been out there on my favorite spot in the balcony of my room where I have a chair directly facing the chapel of the University of San Carlos. This chapel serves as my altar as I pray sitting on my comfortable chair. This is what I do upon waking up in the morning: pray as I behold the naked beauty of creation around me. This is my hour for meditation.
What do I see? An explosion of beauty and light! It starts with the eastern horizon turning pink, then slowly becoming orange, then gold, throwing shafts of light to chase away the darkness, and finally the fiery ball rising ever so gradually. Until that point, I can still look at the sun directly, but eventually not anymore when it has emerged fully. At this point, a bird in flight crosses my view, perhaps out to be the first to catch the worm. All this while, hundreds of birds are singing in salutation to the dawn, as it were, in the forest around me. Is all this loveliness an intimation of heaven?
Earlier, when it was still dark, I saw stars spread out in the clear heavens, especially the brightest among them right there on the eastern sky. It appeared to me as though it were laughing heartily to call attention to its brightness. Was it also calling attention to the beauties within its sight soon to appear to human eyes as well? Yes, a cluster of beauties pointing to the same Creator and Father of us all.
“ Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”
Thank You, Father, for the gift of Beauty!
Thank You for the gift of sight!
So gifted, we must readily understand the misery of the blind. We know very well how much they miss. Imagine to be living in darkness all the time…!
“Son of David, have pity on us!” The two blind men in our gospel today cried their hearts out to Jesus as he was passing by. Untold anguish—and now much hope—could be discerned in that cry. People who saw with their own eyes how Jesus healed the sick, made the lame walk, and even the blind see, must have recounted these miracles to these blind men. And so, when it was announced to them, “Jesus is in our midst now!”, they must have jumped up, overjoyed, and asked to be led to him. Now was their golden opportunity to get healed of their blindness, and they meant to seize the moment.
“Son of David, have pity on us!” they cried as they followed him into the house. Was Jesus happy with that title? Would that not point more to the military leader and conqueror that the Jews expected the messiah to be? Would not Jesus be more comfortable with the title “Son of God”? But never mind the titles now. He was going to respond to their need, knowing fully well how much they had been deprived. Just one important thing he needed now: the assurance of their faith in him. Which they readily gave.
That was the key that released the divine power to heal. “Let it be done to you according to your faith.” Now they could see! And look whom they saw first: Jesus the Healer! They looked straight into his eyes as if to make up at that brief moment for the deprivation of so many years. A foretaste of the Beatific Vision! If eyes were made for seeing, is not Eternal Beauty the ultimate reason for being?
- Fr. Dong Alpuerto, SVD (USC, Talamban, Cebu City)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
