Fr Kevin Kilgore

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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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This is the only miracle in all of the Gospels that takes place in stages. 

Usually, Jesus speaks and something happens – a storm is calmed, a demon is cast out, a person is raised from the dead. Elsewhere, a woman touches the tassel of his cloak and her flow of blood dries up.

Not today.

This man is healed in stages … and several, painstaking ones at that.

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Why is his healing not immediate? 

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It isn’t because Jesus is having an off day… not because he lacks the power to heal… not because he’s trying to torment the man.

Perhaps it’s this man’s lack of faith that slows the momentum.

The Gospel tells us that it was his friends who brought him to Jesus; meaning, the Lord was otherwise unknown to him.

Even after Jesus takes him by the hand, nothing happens. (In other cases, anyone who simply touches Jesus in faith is healed).

Then these two proceed on a private journey, leading them all the way out of town. In doing so, Jesus fulfills that great prophecy of Isaiah in such a literal way: “I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them.”

When they finally stop, Jesus spits on the man’s eyes, then presses his calloused carpenter’s hands onto the man’s eyeballs! Even so, it took another round of spittle and touch to finish the job.

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So, what’s the point?

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Imagine how often God must try breaking into our world, but a lack of faith, or an unwillingness to change, slows the momentum. This doesn’t mean that God ever stops trying.

But the stronger our faith – and the more we surrender – the faster we get what we need; the quicker we “see.”

Lord, give us eyes of faith.

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Image credits: (1) Independent Catholic News (2) Osprey Observer (3) Biblical Wallpapers, WordPress

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Genesis: 6: 5-10

When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth,
and how no desire that his heart conceived
was ever anything but evil,
he regretted that he had made man on the earth,
and his heart was grieved.

So the LORD said:
“I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created,
and not only the men,
but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I made them.”
But Noah found favor with the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Noah:
“Go into the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.
Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs,
a male and its mate;
and of the unclean animals, one pair,
a male and its mate;
likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs,
a male and a female,
and of all the unclean birds, one pair,
a male and a female.
Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.
Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth
for forty days and forty nights,
and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth
every moving creature that I have made.”
Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him.

As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

The Word of the Lord.

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“The LORD said to Noah: ‘Go into the ark, you and all your household… Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him. [Then] the waters of the flood came upon the earth.”

Noah started building his ark while it was still bright and sunny outside. Once the darkness fell and the floods came, those who were saved were the ones already inside the boat. They prepared for flood waters, even when the rain was nowhere in sight.

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The story of Noah’s ark offers us a timeless lesson in faith: 

Build it now.

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There are moments in every person’s life when the flood waters come rushing in; when it feels like we’re going to drown.

Faith is the ark that keeps you above water.

It strengths you and protects you, just as Noah’s ark did.

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How much effort am I putting into strengthening my faith?

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Ash Wednesday is just a week away. Perhaps an appropriate goal this Lent is to build our ark while we can.

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Image credits: (1) An Ark Mentality, Christianity Today (2) Was Noah’s Ark Real? Denison Forum (3) Noah’ Ark, World History Encyclopedia

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Genesis 4: 1-15:

The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
“I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
“Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
He answered, “I do not know. 
Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The LORD then said:  “What have you done!
Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother’s blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Cain said to the LORD:  “My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight.”
“Not so!” the LORD said to him.
“If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.”
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.

Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
“God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel,” she said,
“because Cain slew him.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Auto-immune diseases – such as type-1 diabetes and arthritis – confuse the body’s natural defense system, so that the body can no longer tell the difference between a healthy and an unhealthy cell.

Normal cells become mistaken for a threat, so the body begins attacking itself.

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In our first reading from the Book of Genesis, Cain asks God the first question ever posed by human beings, which comes after murdering his brother, Abel:

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Cain and Abel were the first offspring of Adam and Eve, revealing that, from the very beginning, there has been a seed of division sown into the heart of humanity.

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When we gaze across the world of politics, race, religion, and culture, it’s easy to see this “auto-immune” mentality at work.

But this is not what God planned for his creation. 

As Saint Paul says, “We, though many, are one body in Christ.” 

A body that is meant to live in harmony, not in division.

As Christians – and people of good will, in general – we are called to help restore what was lost; to overcome that division that started with our ancestors. But we need the gift of the Holy Spirit to do so.

God’s Spirit allows us to love until it hurts; to forgive wrongdoings; to be peace where there is division, light where there is darkness.

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In what ways can I work for greater harmony – in my heart, my home, and the community around me?

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Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in us the fire of your love and we shall renew the face of the earth.

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Image credits: (1) PktFuel.com (2) My Brother’s Keeper, Hear Him Daily (3) Am I my brother’s keeper?, Christianity