Gospel
Mark 8:22-26

When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”

Reflection

When the topic of bread comes up. Jesus reminded, and I'm sure he worried and thought often about, do these men understand these signs? It's so difficult for them to grasp what it really means. Yes, it was miraculous. But every sign has a message, a truth, something they need to open their hearts to. And so when he says very clearly, be careful

your hearts are hardened, just like the Pharisees and the scribes. And he longs for them to open their hearts and receive the message that is in these images. But what you realize is they did not grasp these things until the Holy Spirit filled them. And the words that he ends this passage with are so poignant. Do you still not understand?

Closing Prayer

Father, you did not cease to create signs, that would be ways of your truth entering into our imaginations. You continue to do it today. And the question that Jesus poses to his disciples is also posed to us. Are we open to the mysterious ways in which God is working in your life? Are you aware of the things that are happening around you? That if you truly understand them, you will learn more and more about the will of the father who invites His Son to establish the Kingdom of God on this planet? Open our hearts. Let us ponder and wonder and find truth. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.