Have we (you) had a personal encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ?  Has He healed you of your blindness?  I have had one of those experiences and I was healed, but I continue to need healing from so many of the ways that I am blind.

In today’s Gospel we hear of two blind men calling out in public for Jesus the Messiah (Son of David recognizes His predicted coming in the line of King David, as it is written) to have mercy on them.  They are aware of the Messiah in their midst but we also hear that Jesus waits until they are inside the house to speak to them: placing a premium on the personal encounter and it is there and through that personal encounter they are healed.

I’ve spent the majority of my life being hostile to religion and to religious people, most notably Christians because almost everyone I knew was Christian.  I had no interest in anything religion was about until I came to a point of realization that I wasn’t living for anything real or significant in my life: the very accusation I made against religious people.  I wasn’t an atheist, I did believe in a Creator God and it was to Him I prayed.  I had a personal encounter with Jesus His Son, first through the Word and then a few years later through His Sacraments and through His Church.  Over several years, the love I was coming to receive, know and accept from God was leading me to “see things” I was not and had not seen before.  Little by little, I was less blinded by my opinions and judgments and more open to the grace and love of God in my life, and then as God desired it – I had sight to see the goodness of people.

I think of the amazing “miracles” of healing that have taken place in my life.  I think also of the work the Lord still has to do.  When I read and reflect upon today’s Gospel, I also think of how I gained sight through my own personal encounter with Jesus.  And I am blessed to spend my life (through the priesthood) thanking Him for it and asking Him to continue healing me of what I need healing from in order to live the best Christian life I can.