It is time once again to dwell deeply on the fact that we were created in likeness and image of God our Heavenly Father. And so as His children how are we reflecting Him in all that we say and do to one another? Are we loving as He is loving? Merciful to one another as He is merciful to us? Are we patient as He is patient? Are we Holy as He is Holy?
Or is our image distorted by the ways and wiles of the world? Can we no longer see clearly the face of the Lord our God on our very own faces? Can we not recognise a fellow child of God in our neighbour? How then can we tend to the poor, sick and the downtrodden when we are blind to them?
Forgive me Lord for having sinned against You and my brethren. Open my eyes Lord and let me look upon the world through Your eyes. To see, tend to and love my fellow brothers and sisters, children of God our Heavenly Father so loved by Him. Amen
First reading
James 1:19-27
The Word is not only to be listened to, but obeyed
Remember this, my dear brothers: be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to rouse your temper; God’s righteousness is never served by man’s anger; so do away with all the impurities and bad habits that are still left in you – accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. But you must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. To listen to the word and not obey is like looking at your own features in a mirror and then, after a quick look, going off and immediately forgetting what you looked like. But the man who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that his habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that he does.
Nobody must imagine that he is religious while he still goes on deceiving himself and not keeping control over his tongue; anyone who does this has the wrong idea of religion. Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.
Gospel
Mark 8:22-26
The blind man was cured and could see everything distinctly
Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man, who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly. And Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’
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