Reflection on the Gospel of Monday Week 33 by Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 

DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU WANT? GO FOR IT

(Luke 18:35-43)

An Anonymous man, known for his blind condition heard about Jesus in the Gospel reading of today. When he confirmed that Jesus was passing by, he cried out: Son of David, have mercy on me! He cried the louder even after being rebuked by those who were in front of him. For his sake, Jesus stopped. Jesus asked him what he wanted. His reply was: "Lord let me receive my sight" and Jesus said to him: Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." He received his sight and started glorifying God.

Do you really know what you want? Is an important question. Knowing what you want from God matters a lot. Knowing what you want in life matters a lot. Living with a goal in view is necessary. Even when you are yet to know what the future holds. Even if you cannot see what lies ahead. Even when you're not sure of what next to do. Even when you're not certain how your dreams will be actualized, having a wish, a desire, an expectation helps a lot.

Yes! You can't see tomorrow, you may not know where you will be, whether or not you will succeed. In this situation of blindness, you've got to be in the right frame of mind.

Set your priorities well. Know how to put your needs in order. Place God where He should be. Let the spiritual order take precedence in all your affairs. The blind man taught us these. He saw the need for sight.  He needed not to be taken around. He needed to overcome self-pity. He was no longer comfortable lazing about. He longed to see the promised Messiah and not just be hearing about Him.

When grace brought Jesus close, he grabbed the opportunity.

Do not miss the opportunity given to you to achieve your goals.  Don't fear the rebukes by the storms of life. Do not be weighed down by the changes and chances of life. Do not be discouraged by betrayals, do not be disappointed by fake friends, do not rely on the promises of those who claim to offer you fish and stop you from going to the river to fish. Do not be intimidated by the enemies of your destiny.

What do you want? Our wants must be those that help us achieve the everlasting longing of our soul, heaven.

Do you want a happy home? Pray for it and make Jesus stop to address the issues in your home.  Do you want a good result? Work for it and call upon the mercy of God.  Do you want to succeed in life, call upon the mercy of God and receive the counsel He offers you.

Know this: God cares about what you want. He stops to attend to you when He finds out that you really know what you want.  How does He find out that you know what you want? When in the midst of the discouraging voices you keep pushing towards actualizing your destiny. God knows what you want when you raise your voice in prayer calling on His mercy. You will know what you want when you sit down and listen to the voice of Jesus in you directing you where what you want could be found. You will know what you want by telling yourself the truth about what you're really not supposed to want but you unfortunately find yourself in the messy situation of wanting them. May you want what you're supposed to want and have them satisfied.

LET US PRAY

Lord Jesus Christ, the noise and unnecessary advertisements in the world confuse us about what we really want. But we want you, we really need you so much. With you in our lives, we will be healed of the blindness that makes us not to see your plan for us. Grant us our prayers and help us to answer well daily when you ask us what we want through Christ our Lord. Amen

God bless your Monday (33rd Week, Ordinary Time)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh