Let us contemplate for a moment the two blind men in today’s Gospel. Let’s imagine they go with their sticks on the road. They are running with difficulty and shouting: “Son of David, have pity on us.” Already exhausted, they reach Jesus. The blind men, who do not see, feel close to the one who can bring them what they most want: to see, to be able to discover the path before them and to be protagonists of the story. Let us remember that to be blind in the time of Jesus was to be outcasted. Like the lepers or the paralyzed, they did not participate in anything in the life of the Society, they were considered impure, that is, people who were not being blessed by God.
Jesus hears the cry of these blind men and responding to their call He asks them: “Do you believe that I can do this?” Wouldn’t they have already demonstrated their faith by running blind, and still crying out for mercy along the way? But Jesus wants to provoke in them a full commitment. “Sure,” they reply, then Jesus acts.
We too, on more than one occasion, even when we see physically, we fear the need to discover where to go. Sometimes we go through this life stunned, blind and unable to discover where our life is going. Many times, we don’t know where we are going.
Thanks to faith our spiritual life grows and is “enlightened”, however, having faith does not automatically mean that we will have certain knowledge, or complete security. Faith is only authentic when it is conquered step by step, between falls and tremors, between darkness and cries for help. Faith is a fight, in the style of Saint Paul: “I have fought my fight well, I have run to the goal, I have kept the faith” (2Tim 4: 7-8). Let’s not hesitate, and above all, let’s not be afraid of the darkness and the doubts of life.
May today be a day so that we too can cry out to Jesus like these two blind men: “Son of David, have pity on us.” I need to see. I want to put my whole life in your hands. I want to live fully. I don’t want to live aimlessly. I want to see where to go and I want to make my life something really valuable even in the dark moments that I may encounter along the way.