Fr Kevin Kilgore

***

Gospel: Luke 18: 35-43

As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him,
“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
“Son of David, have pity on me!”
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
“What do you want me to do for you?”
He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”
Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

“Have sight; your faith has saved you.”

I imagine the Lord saying the first part of that sentence – have sight – with ease, almost in a dismissive way. The same way a wealthy man might toss a beggar a coin. To Jesus, granting the gift of physical sight is nothing compared to the power he bears.

Elsewhere in the Gospels, he tells us he casts out demons by, “the finger of God.” 

***

It’s the second part of that sentence – your faith has saved you – that should capture our attention. This is what draws Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, the Lord laments how people, even entire towns, have little to no faith in Him.

As Saint Matthew accounts, “He began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” 

“Woe to you!” he says.

Even the disciples are rebuked for their doubt.

While enduring a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples awaken a sleeping Jesus, fearing they are going to drown. Irritated, the Lord rubs his eyes and rebukes them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”

Then he calms the wind and the waves.

***

In my own ministry, I’ve witnessed countless miracles similar to what happens in the Gospels. I’ve seen cancer healed, brain damage removed, body aches and pains disappear. 

Yet the change in a person’s physical diagnosis does not automatically lead to faith; the human heart can be incredibly resistant to change.

This is why the blind man in today’s Gospel is praiseworthy. He’s not only healed physically; his faith also inspires him to get up and “follow” Jesus.

To “follow” Jesus not only means to move your feet, but also to open your heart.

***

May we do the same today.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Growing Christians Ministries (2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, YouTube (3) LifeWire

***

Gospel: Luke 17: 26-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man,” Jesus says, “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage… then the flood came and destroyed them all.”

Noah built his ark while it was still bright and sunny outside. 

Once the darkness fell and the floods came, he was already safely inside his boat. Those who were unprepared were the ones swept away.

***

Jesus urges us to learn from Noah’s story.  

Build the ark now.

***

There will be moments in every person’s life when it feels like the flood waters are rushing in. Faith is the ark that will keep us afloat. But we must construct it now while we still have the time.

In the words of the Psalmist, “The flood waters may reach high, but you they shall not overcome.”

How sturdy is my ark? Are there any holes or weak spots in my relationship with God?

***

The closer we are to Christ now, the more prepared we will be when the floods of life come rushing. Though they may reach high, we who believe shall never be overcome.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Go Be Radiant (2) MassisPost (3) R.L. Stollar

***

Gospel: Luke 17: 20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to his disciples,
“The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

When she was just a child, Saint Frances Cabrini often visited her uncle, who was a priest. Behind his home, there was a canal where she’d make paper boats, place flower petals in them, which she called “missionaries,” and send them downstream.

As the boats disappeared, Frances imagined they reached the shores of China and India, where she dreamt of being a missionary someday.

On one occasion, Frances leaned too far forward and fell into the canal nearly drowning. She was found on a riverbank downstream and attributed her survival to divine intervention.

***

Although she survived, this near-death experience left Frances with an intense fear of water. Still, that was not enough to dampen her dream of becoming a missionary.

As Providence would have it, Frances did realize her dream, but not where she had imagined as a child. After meeting with the pope, she was told the real need was to minister to Italian immigrants in America.

Obedient, she went.

But imagine the fear she must’ve felt when she first saw the Atlantic Ocean. It was a million times larger than the canal she fell into as a child! Incredibly, she made the perilous journey across the Atlantic not once…but twenty-three times.

And often enough, in frail health with nausea and shivers.

She later said, “I do not ask God to take my fear away. Rather, to expand my heart. If I love more than I fear, then I shall overcome.”

Overcome she did. Frances lived with the poor of the earth, serving often abandoned children, turning them from orphans into beloved children of God.

***

She reminds us that, no matter how great or deep our fear may be, there is One who walks on water. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says, “I have overcome the world.”

And with him, so shall we.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Wildwood Lifestyle Center (2) Stewardship and Development, Archdiocese of Chicago (3) Walking on Water, Joseph Brickey