The Monthly Note
February 2012
«I see people looking like trees and walking» (Mk 8, 24).
by Émery Désilets, O.P.
The blind man from Bethsaida receives, first, the possibility of seeing but not yet of seeing correctly. Only when Jesus lays His hands on his eyes for a second is the healing completed. The blind man sees everything clearly. The process is described in fullness: we have the impression of assisting to what is happening, to be a witness of the event. In a way, along with the blind man, we experience a recovery of sight.
This gradual healing is in contrast to another blind man’s healing, that of Bartimaeus, near Jericho. Jesus only says: «Go your way; your faith has saved you », and the effect is sudden.
This contrast permits us to grasp the essential meaning of this story and to show its symbolic value.
This healing, slow and gradual, has a symbolic value. It foretells the Disciples’ slow and gradual opening to faith. They become capable of telling Jesus: «You are the Messiah», but they are not yet able to clearly see the meaning of their profession of faith. It is only in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, that they achieve a true faith: a strong faith in Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
This Gospel also puts into light the course that every believer takes in his/her faith. A believer must always be on the move, until the day that he/she may see God face to face, in the eternal light.
Allow me to show you a way to move on, to grow in faith: welcome the Word of God and put it in to practice. It is not enough to open our hearts to it, we must also open our hearts to it, to meditate it, to let it grow it in silence and in prayer, and to use it in our everyday life. Let us think of Mary who, throughout her life, has never ceased to progress in faith.
We have to give thanks to the Lord who accompanies us throughout our pilgrimage of faith and to pray that we may pas from shadows to the real light.
