Pressing On...

I happened to chance upon a friend's personal message a few moments ago, it reads ' Why God, do we make wishes if they do not come true...'That seemed to me like a cry of despair. This short anecdote is a reflection of the gospel today. Today, Mark's Gospel narrates the healing of a blind man. Jesus was on this way to Jericho, on his way there, he happened to chance upon this blind man bitterly begging by the streets. When Jesus passed, the blind man shouted 'Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.'At once, he was rebuked by the people around him. However, he did not give up, in good faith, he pressed on. Finally, he caught Jesus' attention and was healed 'by his faith'.

Many of us, like my friend, would have met such similar situations in our lives. We all have our wishes, hopes and various intentions, and we often offer them to the Lord in times of intercession. In good faith, we put these intentions before our Lord but lose faith when we do not see them coming to fruition at the time we expect them to. The question is, do we really trust that they are in the good hands of the Lord? Do we really trust that he will provide the right resources to us at the right time, at the right place? Are we really praying in true and authentic faith?

In the upper room, Jesus said to Thomas 'You have seen and thus believe, blessed are those who have yet to see by believe.' Truly, these words speak to everyone of us. In times of hopelessness and despair, do we still press on with our faith? Do we lose hope when the future looks gloomy and God just doesn't seem present in our lives?

In today's gospel narrative, we see that the man was saved because he pressed on. If he had given up upon the negative reactions and opposition from the people around him, he might not even get to Jesus. His faith won him a renewed life, where he is able to see once again. My brothers and sisters, our faith will be constantly challenged, here lies a very fundamental question- Are we in our lives going to chicken out when we challenged by the slightest bit of adversity?

God Bless!