SPECIAL
MOMENT OF GRACE
The people of the Church in Ephesus have not tolerated the wicked. They
have shown God's hospitality to only those missionaries of whom the writer of
this letter approves, and they have patiently suffered persecution without
losing their faith. It is therefore almost surprising when they are accused of
having lost the love for each other that they once had when the community was
founded years ago. This important observation by the elder John on behalf of the
Risen Lord points out that love for each other is the most important and the
most challenging part of all the requirements of our Christian life. St. John confirms that
this task awaits us every day in our lives; it is a must and we will be held
accountable for it.
In today's Responsorial Psalm we acclaim, "Those who are
victorious I will feed from the tree of life" (Rv 2:7). May we delight in
the Law of the Lord and meditate on it. We are like a tree planted near running
water that yields its fruit and never fades. We can love and we will prosper in
our lives.
I would like to ask this question today: Have you ever
encountered a special moment of grace; a once in a life-lifetime opportunity?
In the Gospel of Luke we heard that such a moment came for a blind and
destitute man who heard that Jesus Christ was passing by. It took raw courage
and persistence for Bartimaeus to get the attention of Jesus over the noisy
crowd that had gathered around the Lord as He made His way out of town. When
the crowd tried to silence the blind man, he overpowered them with his loud
emotional outburst. Bartimaeus was in desperate need and Jesus was ready not
only to empathize with his suffering but to relieve it as well. Jesus commends
him for recognizing who He is with great faith and grants him eyes to see. Bartimaeus was not only grateful for the gift
of faith and physical sight, but for the opportunity to now follow Jesus as a
disciple.