Unequalled Benevolence

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘, 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟏 𝐌𝐚𝐜 𝟏:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟓, 𝟒𝟏-𝟒𝟑, 𝟓𝟒-𝟓𝟕, 𝟔𝟐-𝟔𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟓𝟑, 𝟔𝟏, 𝟏𝟑𝟒, 𝟏𝟓𝟎, 𝟏𝟓𝟓, 𝟏𝟓𝟖 “𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐎, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟓-𝟒𝟑

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: ““𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?” (𝐯.𝟒𝟏) 

Humans are relational beings. We were made to live with others, to interact and, to socialize. That is our nature. That is why you must have across one of the classic poems that was written by English author John Donne and originally published in 1624 titled: No Man Is An Island. This poem simply presents the fact that no man is self-sufficient and that everyone relies on others.

Have you ever experienced a time when you stepped into a room with people whom you believe are your friends and those who know you and no one even greeted you? At most they nodded at you but you could feel there was no warmth as they did that. And they will be civil enough to talk to you but you will have to make the first move. It's as if you have a contagious disease no one wants to touch you with a ten foot pole.

If you ever felt that way at some point in time, be of good cheer because this event provides us with a moving story that brings us inside the heart of Jesus and it exposes us to the kind of compassion of Our Lord towards those who feel they are non-entities.

The widows, poor, lepers, beggars especially those who are lame and blind were ostracized by the society they were in during the time of Jesus. In fact, we could say they live in a society but they are ignored. It was like they do not exist except when you have faithful friends such as the man who was lowered from the roof.

They are defenseless and have no way of getting into the mainstream of life and this story of the blind man in today’s Gospel is no different from situations that may be happening in our own lives when there are opportunities that we simply could not pass up or ignore. For the job-seeker, there is that job in an established company that you have long wanted and you will do anything just to get that job.

Those who have not gone abroad yet will probably be attracted by the promotional rates being advertised by budget airlines and you find yourselves scooping up your savings so as not to miss the opportunity to travel. Or the pricey bag you have been ogling for quite sometime and which suddenly came up in a year end sale and you just had to grab the opportunity to buy yourself a new bag.

Or some who may be suffering from different forms of afflictions and who lie in wait until they hear news of a prominent healing priest who will be conducting healing services in their parish and their immediate reaction is to gather all their energies to go to the healing mass with the hope they can find there the healing that they seek.

In other words, there are opportunities that we cannot allow to pass or miss and this is the situation of the blind man in this Gospel passage who heard that Jesus would be passing by.

Beggars especially a blind one during the time of Jesus are considered irrelevant and are normally ignored and they would sit along the road because this is the only place where they can expect to earn a living from alms. What stands out in this passage is the persistence of the blind man to be noticed and be healed by Jesus.

As it was customary for a Rabbi to preach while walking it was only natural that the crowd was building up as Jesus passed by but even amid the commotion, the blind man managed to shout “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me.” (v.38)

The crowd and even the disciples of Jesus who didn’t want to miss every word that Jesus was saying stopped the blind man who shouted all the more “Son of David, have mercy on me.” (v.39) When Jesus heard the man, He turned because to be called the “Son of David” is a salutary honor for someone who comes from the lineage of David. This was also a title given to the Messiah (Isa 11:1-3) which means that the blind man knew in faith that Jesus was the Messiah that has been prophesied.

When Jesus heard this, He turned around and He asked the blind man “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 41) Jesus knew the man was blind but He still asked and perhaps the reason was that Jesus wanted the blind man to verbalize his faith. And this is the same with us when we come to Jesus to verbalize our faith through prayer.

And salvation comes to those who have faith as with the blind man who was able to see when Jesus said: “Receive your sight, your faith has healed you.” (v.42) And immediately after he regained his sight the blind man praised God and became a disciple of Jesus. The crowd too praised God for the healing that took place.

There are at least two things that we need to dwell into to savor the beauty of this passage. One is the determination of the blind man who despite being rebuffed by the disciples of Jesus and the crowd would not be stopped from letting this one-time opportunity pass. As with the persistent widow, the persistence of the blind man paid off which should also teach us that not only do we have to be persistent in our prayers but we should also not allow any opportunity to pass by without praying.

The other thing that stood out in this Gospel in Lk 18:35-43 is the way Jesus reacted upon hearing the cry of the blind man. He stopped and turned around and ministered to the blind man. Here we see Jesus walking the talk. Jesus was simply showing that deeds are more important than words. While it was important for Him to preach, it was far more important for Him to put meaning into His words by ministering to the blind man.

This scenario could be likened to people on a boat shouting to someone who went overboard “we’ll throw you a line and hang on to it.” Jesus did not only threw a line but He dived into the water and rescued the blind man from the sea of darkness. 

This Gospel should serve as a reminder for all of us that regardless of the situation we are in, Jesus will come to our aid whenever we call out to him with a persistent faith. Just as when Jesus asked the blind man what he wants, we too must come to Jesus with specifics as it pleases him to always listen to our prayers.

Prayer is our lifeline to God and the blind man gives us a lesson that when an opportunity comes we must hang on to it and not let go until we receive what we are asking from. But the blind man also showed us how we must respond. As soon as he regained his sight, the blind man not only praised God but he followed Jesus and became one of his disciples.

What also pleases God all the more is when we follow Him even if we still have to receive answers to our prayers. In other words, we should follow Jesus not because of the benefits that we can derive from it but because our obedience and loyalty are driven by our love for God. (Ed Malay – Nov. 17, 2025)