Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
In the Gospel today, we have our Lord moving on from Capernaum.
That is, after having raised to life the daughter of Jairus,
he then moves on from there and is followed by two blind men who are crying out after him.
And the blind men are following him not because, obviously, they have seen a miracle,
because they were blind, but just simply hearing about our Lord,
and possibly, if they were also present, hearing all the commotion,
when our Lord raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead.
And so, they're following after him, and they're calling out,
Son of David, have mercy on us.
Now, this title that they give to our Lord, Son of David,
at a bare minimum, it's a title of respect.
It's a title that the prophets in the Old Testament used to call the kings to show their respect.
They would call them, Son of David.
But it's most likely that they recognize in our Lord, the Messiah.
That is, after having heard of the signs that he was doing,
such as raising people from the dead.
And so, they call him, Son of David, knowing that the Messiah, of course, would be a Son of David.
This outcry of the two blind men, Son of David, have mercy on us,
is also the origin of the traditional Jesus prayer,
where we say, Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
So, our Lord then goes on to test their faith,
when he says to them, are you confident I can do this?
Now, we notice that our Lord says, are you confident that I can do this?
He doesn't simply ask them, are you confident I can obtain this favor?
Or for you, if I pray to God?
Are you confident in my intercession?
But he says, are you confident that I can do this?
That I possess the power to restore your sight?
Thereby testing their faith.
And the two blind men answer, yes, Lord.
They are no longer calling him, the Son of David.
But now they're calling him, Lord.
Recognizing in him the divinity, and making an act of faith.
And as a result, their blindness is healed.
Because of your faith, it shall be done to you.
It isn't the faith itself that heals them, it's the power of our Lord.
But nevertheless, faith was the condition that our Lord placed in order to work the miracle.
Now, we can say that there is a parallel for those who are spiritual,
spiritually blind in this world.
That is, for those who perhaps give our Lord an honorific title.
They recognize in him some great man.
They're willing to call him a good moral teacher.
Just as the blind men were willing to call our Lord, the Son of David.
But that still constitutes spiritual blindness.
But this blindness can be healed,
if they make an act of faith.
By acknowledging that Jesus is Lord.
By acknowledging his divinity.
They can then receive the cure for their spiritual blindness.
And in fact, you hear stories of people, of course there's the one of St. Paul,
where he actually had something like scales falling from his eyes after his conversion.
But there are also other people who, after receiving a conversion,
are going from the state of unbeliever to believer of really having faith and that knowledge of faith.
That they explain that the world looks a little different.
It looks a little brighter in some mysterious way than it was before their conversion.
And that of course is a result of the gift of faith,
the gift of God to the soul,
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
and the real light that the gift of faith is.
That the gift of faith brings into the soul.
A spiritual light, of course, but nonetheless real.
The act of faith is an ascent to the truth that God has revealed.
We ascent with our intellect and with our will.
And it's not a blind leap.
But it has firm, solid foundations.
Just as the two blind men in the Gospel today,
they had a reasonable foundation for making their act of faith.
For saying,
Yes, Lord, I believe that you can do this.
And the reasonable foundation was the prior miracles that he had worked.
Especially raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead.
Well, it's very similar to the person who makes an act of faith today.
And the truths that God has revealed.
We have the entire history of the church.
As a testimony.
We have miracles throughout the history of the church.
As a testimony.
For example, the miracle of Saint Francis Xavier's incorrupt body.
That we celebrated the other day.
So let's ask our Lord to always increase our faith.
To give us greater light and understanding.
And to know the truth.
And to always live in the truth.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord,аний είναι navigating
MYROOSH
FOR THUS SINK I AM
MYSTERIOUS