Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(James
1:19-27; Mark 8:22-26)
Both
readings today compare faith to sight. In
the first reading a person looks in a mirror, goes away and forgets what she saw. With faith she would have seen herself as an
image of Christ. Remembering what she looked like, she would have acted like
Christ. That is, she would have treated
every person she met with due love.
In the
gospel the blind man comes to see in two stages. At the first stage, he sees people as walking
trees. That is, he sees them as objects
to be exploited at will. When he
achieves full sight, which is faith, he sees people differently. He recognizes everyone as a child of God and,
again, respects him or her accordingly.
Faith is a full
way of seeing. When we believe in Christ
as Lord, we know that he is there to help us.
We can treat others with compassion as he did. More than that, faith assures that Christ
sees us. He will favor us for our every
good action.
