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Reflections for Sunday
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 26, 2003
A blind beggar named Bartimaeus was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming, he began to cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man said to him, "Teacher, that I may see."
And Jesus said to him, "Go, your faith has healed you."
And immediately he was able to see.
Mark 10: 46-52
Miracles
The modern mind has difficulties with the Gospel accounts of the miracles of Jesus. It looks at the miracle stories from the starting point that they could not have happened, and so it rejects them. But to explain away the miracles is to miss the whole point of Christian faith. What Jesus proclaimed, and what his first followers recorded, was that in his person the reign of God was breaking into the world. And this reign of God manifested itself in the works of healing that Jesus did. It is presumptuous of man to set limits on what God can do. Jesus brought the power of God into the world; not only could miracles happen, they did.
The modern mind cannot understand the miracles because it refuses to look into the depth of things. For all the advances that our age has made in understanding the world, it cannot penetrate to its essence. We think that what we observe and measure and analyze is all there is to the world. But the only way to adequately understand the world is to look at it in relation to its creator. The only science that can cross the threshold of ultimate truth is theology.
When we look at the world from a theological perspective, we see that miracles are not only possible, but commonplace. We learn from theology that God is everywhere present and active in the world. The distinction between the natural world that we see around us and the supernatural realm above us breaks down.
Not only can miracles happen; we depend on them to get us through each day. Every time I awake from sleep and begin a new day, I take part in a miracle. Every breath I take is a miracle. Every newborn baby is a miracle, bringing wonder and delight to the world. Every time I am touched by the warmth of another's love, it is a miracle. Wherever God's hand is at work in the world, miracles happen.
One of God's greatest miracles is to heal us of spiritual blindness so that we can see with the eyes of faith. Then we begin to see the power of God breaking into our life. When we least expect it, God touches us with his love, and miracles happen.
God our Father, Lord of creation, you call all things into being and sustain them by your loving care. Give us the eyes of faith that we may see your hand at work in the world. Guide us in your ways that we may do your will in all things. Strengthen us in faith that we may remain close to you in this life and be united with you in eternity.
Read a prayer for a newborn.
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