Today's Gospel

Lord, Help Me to See

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we explore the gospel. Looking for a word, a phrase, or an idea that the Holy Spirit uses to stir our hearts and our minds. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8, verses 22 through 26. 'And they came to Beth Sider and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees walking." Then again, Jesus laid his hands upon his eyes and he looked intently and was restored and saw everything clearly. And he sent him away to go home saying, "Do not even enter the village." What jumps out at you today? Two things jump out at me after Jesus cures the blind man, the gospel tells us, "And he saw everything clearly." That's a beautiful prayer. These things, there's so many prayers in here. You can take one each day and just turn it into a prayer. "And Lord, help me to see everything clearly." and to use it like a mantra throughout the day. "Lord, help me to see everything clearly. Lord, help me to see this person clearly. Help me to see the situation clearly. Help me to see myself clearly. Help me to see my marriage clearly. Help me to see my parenting clearly. Help me to see my work clearly. Help me to see everything clearly like the blind man Jesus. Help me to see everything clearly."
That was the first thing that struck me. And maybe something completely different struck you and that's great. That's the exercise. We want to learn how to do this on our own. We want to learn how in mass on Sunday to listen to reading and not to feel like, "Okay, you got to absorb the whole thing," but just allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to a word or a phrase or an idea so he can feed you with his word. The second thing that struck me was at the end. Jesus sent the blind man home. Although he's not blind anymore. He's cured him, he's healed him, and he sent him home. And he said, "Don't even enter the village." It's like, "Stay away from that. Go straight home." And how often do we know we should avoid certain situations? How often do we know that we should-- don't even go, don't even enter the village. How often do we know that is what we should do? And to again pray and ask God to give us the grace, the courage, the wisdom, the insight to avoid the village sometimes, because it's not where we need to be. It's not going to help us become the best version of ourselves. It's not going to help us grow in holiness. It's not going to unite us with God. Have a great day. Remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
I hope you're enjoying the Daily Gospel Reflections. So one of the things I love doing, spending this time with you each day. Recently, I released a book called 33 Days to Divine Mercy. If you haven't had a chance to check that out yet, encourage you to do that today.