What was the last risk you took in your relationship with Jesus? Are you willing to take risks in order to grow in faith? - Daily Reflections October 25, 2015

LIFE IS FULL OF RISKS

 

Life is an adventure. Even more so if we live with faith and trust in God. We never know where the next step of faith is going to lead us when we follow Jesus. When Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus, asking Him to heal his blindness, he takes a great risk. What if Jesus refuses to do so? What if his faith is insufficient to entrust himself to the healing power of God? We could ask risky questions in every decision we make. When a man asks a woman to marry him, he takes the risk of rejection. When we go for a job interview, we likewise risk not being chosen for the job.

       Life is full of risks. If we run away from things because we are scared of the possible outcomes, then we will never live our lives fully.

       Jesus wants to assure us that He will never abandon us and He will always provide the necessary grace when we follow Him. In today’s Gospel, Bartimaeus has enough faith and trust that Jesus would heal him. The people are afraid for him, but not Bartimaeus himself. He only shouts all the more when it seems that Jesus has not heard him. This gives us a sense of the urgency in Bartimaeus’ request. Perhaps he sees Jesus as the last chance for him to have a full and productive life.

       What we see in Jesus is enormous compassion that changes the hearts of the people around Bartimaeus. You can sense the crowd’s anticipation of the healing. This miracle, like all other miracles, is designed for the purpose of building up our faith. Two thousand years after it happened, the story can still increase our faith as we meditate upon it. This is the nature of the Gospel — it allows us to reflect on the truth of God’s love for His people.

       As we reflect on the Gospel today, let us allow it to draw us into a deeper faith — one that imitates Bartimaeus’s faith — a faith that can heal the unhealable, a faith that can save a sinner from his or her sins. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What was the last risk you took in your relationship with Jesus? Are you willing to take risks in order to grow in faith?

 

Holy Spirit, never allow me to despair and give up no matter how difficult a struggle may be. May I always give you the opportunity to work miracles in and through my life.