WEDNESDAY, SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Gn 8: 6-13, 20-22; Ps 116: 12-15, 18-19; Mk 8: 22-26
CALLED TO BE HOLY AND FAULTLESS
Jesus cures a blind man and gives him the ability to see. For many people, one of the most important visions is the sight of their own features, especially their own faces. Mirrors are manufactured precisely to give people this beautiful vision of their faces and their features. That there were mirrors in the time of Jesus is clear from today’s first reading which tells us that “listening to the word, and not obeying it, is like looking at your features in a mirror and then immediately forgetting what you looked like.”
A mirror performs a two-fold task: it tells you how you appear, and it suggests how you should appear. Similarly, the Word of God tells us what we are, and what we should be. The Word of God tells us, for instance, that we are children of Adam and Eve – inclined to ambition, jealousy, lust etc. That is what we are. On the other hand, since God loved us and sent His Son to take away our sins, and since we have received baptism, we must die to sin and live in the holiness of life. Conquering our inclination to ambition, we must become meek and humble of heart like Jesus. Likewise, we must overcome inclinations of jealousy and lust. Our souls must be filled with love for God and our neighbour. That is what we should be.
When we become more and more what we should be, we shall find in ourselves, the features and characteristics of Jesus, who is the Word of God. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is a mirror of God’s glory (cf. Heb 1: 3). Looking constantly into this mirror, we shall become what we should be: Alter Christus (Other Christ’s), partakers in the Divine nature. What Noah teaches us through the first reading of today is that, God’s grace may be late in coming but it is never refused. And therefore, no sincere effort of ours towards holiness is without fruit, no sincere prayer is without an answer. Noah persevered in faith, and was rewarded.
Response: A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
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