Gospel: February 19, 2025
February 19, 2025 (Wednesday)
6th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Green)
Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
1st Reading: Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22
Gospel: Mark 8:22-26
When they came to Bethsaida, Jesus was asked to touch a blind man who was brought to him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had put spittle on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked, “Can you see anything?” The man, who was beginning to see, replied, “I see people! They look like trees, but they move around.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and the man could see perfectly. His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not return to the village.”
Reflection:
“The people ‘look like trees’”
The cure of the blind man in today’s Gospel is unusual as there are two stages in the healing of his sight. However, the position of the miracle in Mark’s Gospel between the disciples’ lack of insight and Peter’s profession of faith tells us that the life of faith is a dynamic experience. Yesterday, the disciples were described as having “eyes that don’t see.” Tomorrow we will read about Peter confidently identifying Jesus as the Messiah. In between these passages we have the blind man at first beginning to see, but not clearly, so that the people “look like trees.” We grow in our faith. Our spiritual sight is blurry, but through daily prayer and the Sacraments we come to see reality more clearly. We come to see the presence of God in our lives more keenly, and we recognize our need for Christ more acutely. The life of faith needs perseverance and commitment. As Saint Richard of Chichester prayed: “O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.”
