"According to your faith be it done to you"

Scripture: Matthew 9:27-31

27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Christ Healing the Blind Man
El Greco

Reflection: Our lack of faith in God causes us to be blind to His power to do wonders in our lives. Our own sinfulness and constant disobedience may cause us to think that God is fed up with us. It's true that sin causes us to be separated from God's grace, but God does not give up on us. He unceasingly calls us to conversion and union with Him. God's mercy is infinite and beyond our limited understanding as humans. If we find it hard to forgive, God does not. He desires to forgive, but first we have to do our part--- repent and turn away from sin.

The blind men did not limit their faith, instead they believed in the mercy of God. Jesus did not just felt compassion, but He was able to experience deeply what the blind men were feeling. In the same way, Jesus knows that being enslaved by sin is the worst thing that could happen to any human being. For this reason, He made the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.

God asks us to be confident in His mercy. The first step to conversion is believing that God will accept our repentance, forgive our sins and help us turn away from it by His grace.

Forgive First

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable: 4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.' 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Reflection: How lucky we are that Jesus did not come to this world to condemn but to seek the lost and bring them back to God.

Parable of the Lost Coin
paulines.ph

We feel bad when we see people get away with their evil ways, we always long to see them get punished for the bad things they did. But God does not aim to punish at once, His first action is to draw the sinner closer to Him and change their hearts. Jesus hang out with tax collectors and prostitutes which offended the religious authorities of His day. The pharisees and scribes do not hang out with public sinners because according to them they will be ritually defiled, meaning they will not be fit to perform their religious rituals. That's like saying that rituals are more important than love and mercy.

We are really blessed that God is slow to punish and quick to forgive. All of us without exceptions are worthy of God's wrath. When we sinned we have offended Him, and it is but right that He condemn and turn away from us. But God loves us sinners to the point of making the initiative to repair what was damaged by our sins. The offended was the one who reached out to the offender.

Let us thank God for His love and mercy and His readiness to forgive us who offended Him. May His grace help us to be thankful for his forgiveness and to help us be ready and willing to forgive as well.

God seeks me...a sinner

Scripture:  Matthew 9:9-13 
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  13 Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Reflection:  We are in great need of God's mercy. All of us are sinners and have offended God more often than we please Him. What a relief that God not only loves us but longs to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on us. The greater the sinner, the greater His mercy. No sin is too big for God to forgive, if only the sinner would run back to Him. 

I personally find comfort in the fact that Jesus' disciples are men who have many faults. That means that there is hope for us who have fallen and made mistakes. St. Peter, the head of the apostles had a quick temper and was too impulsive. He did not think before he act and often says or does things he would regret later on. He even denied Jesus three times. But Jesus made him the "the keeper of the keys" to God's Kingdom. That shows that Jesus trusted Peter regardless of his faults and weaknesses. Jesus can see beyond those and saw that Peter's love for Him would prevail in the end. St. Matthew who was a tax collector, the equivalent of today's corrupt politicians or even worse, was also called by Jesus via two words only: "Follow Me." That was enough for Matthew to turn his back on his riches, gave away all that was not rightfully his, and live a new life as God's follower. 

Jesus truly sees the good in us no matter how much we have failed Him in the past. He sees our hearts and our capacity for goodness and love. May Jesus help us to believe in ourselves as He believes in us. Let us not give up on ourselves because God surely does not.