More great stuff today from St. James in our first reading. In the Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus heals a blind man; but it takes Him two tries. In reflecting on that, I wondered if the man wasn’t quite ready for a full healing all at once. Are there times in our lives where an incremental healing has happened? Maybe it was by design. Maybe God knew we weren’t ready for the whole enchilada in one shot. Remember, God always knows best.
“Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.” There is a world of difference between hearing and doing. Perhaps you’ve experienced this in your own life. If you have kids, I’ll bet you have. You: “Clean your room, please.” Kid: “OK, OK…” Nothing. You: “Clean your room!” Kid: “Whatever…” Nothing. You: “How many times do I have to tell you to clean your room?!?!” Kid: “All right! Take a chill!” (I’m sure your children are much more well mannered than the one in our example. But maybe you’ve heard of kids who are like this.) The kid doesn’t have a hearing problem. He has a doing problem.
I sometimes wonder if God feels like that frustrated parent with us. We go to Mass week after week, maybe do a Bible study, listen to Seize the Day on the radio – we hear the word plenty. But are we acting on that which we hear? Are we putting into practice that which we hear? Or is it in one ear and out the other? Is it that we have a hearing problem? Or is it a doing problem?
Father, forgive us for the many times that we hear the word, but do nothing about it. Help us to be hearers and doers of the word. Help to mend our doing problem. Amen.
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