“Heavenly Father, thank you for this time you’ve given us to open your Word.

Giving us hope in the midst of blindness brought about by sin.

Thank you for the encouragement and hope Your Word brings.  

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22

At the end of the forty days

Noah opened the window of the ark that he had built and let the raven out.

This went off and kept flying to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.

 

Then Noah let out the dove to see if the waters were receding from the earth.

But the dove could not find a place to set its foot and flew back to him

in the ark for the waters still covered the surface of the whole earth.

So Noah stretched out his hand, took hold of it and brought it back to himself in the ark.

He waited some more days and again sent the dove out from the ark.

This time the dove came back to him in the evening with a fresh olive branch in its beak.

 

Then Noah knew the waters had receded from the earth.

He waited seven more days and let the dove loose, but it did not return to him any more.

In the year six hundred and one, in the first month, on the first day of the month,

the waters dried up from the earth.

Noah then removed the covering from the ark and looked out and saw that the surface of the earth was dry.

 

Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and all the clean birds,

he offered burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said to himself:

"Never again will I curse the earth because of man, even though his heart is set on evil from childhood;

never again will I strike down every living creature as I have done.

As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease to be.

 

Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19 To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Mark 8:22-26

When they came to Bethsaida, Jesus was asked to touch a blind man who was brought to him.

He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

When he had put spittle on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked, "Can you see anything?"

The man, who was beginning to see, replied, "I see people! They look like trees, but they move around."

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and the man could see perfectly. His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly.

Then Jesus sent him home, saying, "Do not return to the village."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"The people 'look like trees.!"

The cure of the blind man in today's Gospel is unusual as there are two stages in the healing of his sight.

However, the position of the miracle in Mark's Gospel between the disciples' lack of insight

and Peter's profession of faith tells us that the life of faith is a dynamic experience. Yesterday,

the disciples were described as having "eyes that don't see." Tomorrow we will read about Peter confidently identifying Jesus as the Messiah.

In between these passages we have the blind man at first beginning to see, but not clearly, so that the people "look like trees."

We grow in our faith. Our spiritual sight is blurry, but through daily prayer and the Sacraments we come to see reality more clearly.

 

We come to see the presence of God in our lives more keenly, and we recognize our need for Christ more acutely.

The life of faith needs perseverance and commitment. As Saint Richard of Chichester prayed:

"O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly,

love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day."