30th Sunday of the Year The Virtue of Being Desperate When we are desperate, we really don’t care what people think of us. When the blind beggar heard that Jesus was passing by, he carried on in a totally unacceptable way. The bystanders obviously thought he was making a fool of himself, that he was disturbing them and that Jesus would have nothing to do with a person like him. How wrong! When he was called to Jesus, he threw off his cloak, his most precious possession. This was what he used to keep himself warm. He jumped up so eager was he to speak to Jesus. Shouldn’t blind people take it a bit more carefully? No! This man made a fool of himself, risked what little he possessed, could have fallen flat on his face. But he had a chance of healing so he was prepared to do anything in his desperation. I’ve known parents who are like that. They will do anything for the sake of their children. But are we like that with regards to ourselves? Most of us feel that we suffer from a certain spiritual lethargy. We aren’t too sure of where we are going in life. But our failing is not that we do little about it. Rather our need is not in what we do or don’t do but in the level of our desire. We would like to be closer to God but do we really want it? Imagine if we prayed for guidance, for light, with just a little of the passion of this man. The God of love will surely come close to us. Yes, we shall be asked to follow Jesus, along the road to his passion, death and resurrection but it would be a journey into the fullness of light and life.
Sr Kym Harris OSB |