In one of the Sunday Gospel readings we hear of how the Lord healed a blind man in the city of Jericho. This blind man had such strong faith in that the Son of David, as he called Jesus Christ, would heal him of his blindness, that when in response to his cry: Son of David, have mercy on me! – those who were passing by told him to keep quiet, he started crying even more loudly: Son of David, have mercy on me! But he cried loudly because the Lord was at some distance away from him. The Lord stood and commanded that the blind man be brought to Him, and when the latter was near He asked him: what do you want from Me? The blind man said: Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said: Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And the blind man immediately received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God.

This blind man, dear brethren, serves as a shining example for us. He never saw anything around him, just sat each day by the road and begged for alms, thus being occupied solely with the worldly concern of making a living. And we, too, spend each day like the blind man, in worldly concerns and vanity; we, too, are spiritually blind, we do not see the world of God around us, full of daily miracles. And our sins keep us at a great distance from God. So how can we approach the Lord, how can we receive His bounty?

Let us look at the blind man: in his heart he kindled a strong flame of faith. With this faith he began to cry out to the Lord, not paying any attention to impediments from those around him. And behold – what a great miracle! With the words: receive thy sight, the Lord delivered him from blindness, made his eyes totally clear. The blind man is happy now; he, who was unable to see yet believed, is blessed now, for his faith has saved him. The Gospel reading indicates to us that this blind man regained sight not only physically, but also spiritually. After being healed, he immediately followed Christ, glorifying God. Thus the first path which his own eyes showed him was to follow in the wake of Jesus Christ. The first use of the bounty which he had received was to offer it to the One Who had granted him this bounty.So will it be for us, dear brethren, if we fill our hearts with strong faith, if we turn to God with fervent prayer, not paying any attention to impediments from people or circumstances surrounding us, and the Lord will not tarry in granting us His bounty. Whosoever is sick, call upon the Lord, and you shall be healed; whosoever has fallen into misfortune, turn to the Lord, and you shall be saved; whosoever is in grief, fall down before the Lord, and you shall be delivered. We must only turn to God with faith and with hope, we must walk in the way of the Lord, and we must not forget to thank God for all His blessings. For the Lord says to us through the psalms of King David: “Because you have set your hope upon Me, I will deliver you; I will protect you, because you have known My name. You will call upon Me, and I will hear you; I will be with you in time of trouble, I will deliver you and honor you.” Amen.

Father Rostislav Sheniloff