The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

In case you haven’t noticed, Jesus’ journey has been continuing. Jesus is moving from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation, freedom.

At the end of our summer journey, we first encounter Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees. Subsequently He heals a man who was deaf and mute. Ears were opened and speech was made clear – a metaphor for what Jesus wanted to accomplish along the way where people would hear His voice and wherein, He calls them to proclaim His gospel message.

Along the journey, Jesus speaks of the cross – what He must accomplish to free us from sin and death. He was so intent on this because He knew the desire of His own heart – to free all of us.

God has an ideal for us, a vision for a life free and full.

This is what we hear about in today’s scripture.

In Jeremiah we hear prophecy of Israeli’s return from captivity. They are not just free, but free to be guided by God Who provides them with all good things and brings them home.

In the gospel we now hear of a blind man. This is, in a few verses, a wonderful analogy for what God wants for us and from us.

We begin in calling out to Jesus and to be persistent in our call. Our call to Jesus must not succumb to the dissuaders and the doubters, to the people who say ssshh.

The second part is a call for us to both listen for the voice of Jesus and to evangelize. The blind man had to hear Jesus and that was accomplished by those who heard Jesus told the blind man that Jesus was calling.

The blind man then throws everything aside. He went to Jesus directly leaving every tie to his old life behind. What keeps us in captivity must be left on the roadside so we can be free in walking with Jesus.

Jesus tells the man who has been freed from blindness to ‘go his way.’ In his new freedom he followed Jesus on the way.

We walk in the freedom God won for us. Our call to apply His freedom by following Him and speaking of Him.

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. 

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

Today, Jesus walks us through an experience wherein we are to take account of what we care about or invest in.

It might help sometime in the week ahead to create a list for yourself. List the things you care most about. Do it in any order at first, just brainstorming your list. Whatever pops up is fine.

After doing that, take the list and sort and order it. Place the things you care about in order from most to least important.

This might seem like a childish thing to do, or something not worth doing, but if you give it a short you will likely find it very revealing.

Some things will stand out as very consistent with your everyday life. Others may cause you to wonder why they are there – I never really considered that important, but here it is. And, you just might find some very important things missing.

That, of course, isn’t the end. We may find we need to readjust and re-prioritize. Maybe we will find everything in order, and we can rejoice in that.

James and John’s approach to Jesus was based on a misunderstanding of Who He is, what He was going to accomplish, and how He was going to do it. Jesus helped them to re-prioritize. 

The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tested in all the same ways we are, and truthfully more strongly that we are. Yet, through it all, He persevered with His priorities set straight. He knew what was important to His Heavenly Father, and how He had to get there – through the cross.

When we read the last line of today’s gospel: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve…” we tend to fixate on the idea of serving other as the end all and be all of priorities. We kind of miss the second part: “and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus put His entire self, His very life, at the center of accomplishing His mission, following through on His chief priority – saving us.

Let us take Jesus’ presence within us and use that grace to get our priorities right and to follow through on them.

When Jesus saw this… He said to them, “Let the children come to Me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

A certain way to live out the presence of Jesus is faithfulness.

The Pharisees come to Jesus, as usual, to test Him. This was their mode of operation, to constantly question, test, debate, and argue. In general, this is not a bad approach. It is a way to debate with a goal of arriving at the truth. This method however falls apart if it is only intended to trap and without openness to acceptance of God’s truth.

The question they ask concerns divorce. To this day, among Orthodox Jews, a husband has the power to issue a Jewish divorce. The husband ends the marriage by giving his wife a Get. The marriage ends formally if the wife receives it willingly.

Of course there are traps there. If a husband issues a Get the wife will quickly realize his support has ended; there is no way out, she must accept it. 

In Jesus’ time men left their wife behind by just issuing a document and moving on. Like today where divorced women statistically tend to end up more impoverished, leaves behind a wake of destruction.

This is not a discussion of abusive situations, which always must end, but rather one of faithfulness. Jesus was encountering a people who treated faithfulness cheaply. They were not living up to the very faithfulness that God showed toward them. 

The same today. Get an itch, see a better bank account, desire more fun, set aside faithfulness and move on.

Jesus reminds the Pharisees and us of God’s faithfulness and our call to that very same faithfulness. We tell young people to reach up, to strive for the best. So, we must do the same in terms of faithfulness to our commitment to each other. As God sets the example for us, we must set the example for each other and our children,

Today we welcome our pets to church. This is always a blessed event, and again shows us the power of faithfulness.

Today’s gospel ends with Jesus embracing children. It seems odd in this divorce discussion but is not. It is intended to show us the true value of dedication and faithfulness. Living His presence in us.