Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 9:16-19; Luke 6:39-42)
In Frederico Fellini’s film memoir Amarcord all the townspeople including a blind man go to the bay to welcome a luxury liner. When the vessel comes into sight the blind man feels the excitement of the crowd and exclaims, “I can see it! I can see it!” The people have conveyed to him not just the appearance of the liner but its magnificence in the bay on the balmy summer night. In the gospel today Jesus exhorts his disciples to prepare themselves to give similar testimony so that others may see.
Faith is a new way of seeing. It transcends our limitations, like the blind man "seeing" the luxury cruiser, to perceive what is invisible to the eye. It tells us that we are loved with greater intensity and richer promise than we can possibly feel. It assures us that our struggle to follow our consciences has eternal value. Christ’s followers – that is, we who eat his body and drink his blood – must convey these realities to those who think that only what the hand can touch has existence and will endure.
We give testimony to faith by both saying and doing. Publicly thanking God for the benefits we receive reminds others of His existence. Foregoing small satisfactions to assist others testifies that God calls everyone to care for one another as He cares for us, His children.
