GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
23. Mercy is
light (cf. Lk 18:35-43)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
One day Jesus, approaching the
City of Jericho, performed a miracle by restoring sight to a blind man who was
out begging on the street (cf. Lk 18:35-43). Today we would like to grasp the
significance of this sign because it touches us directly. Luke the Evangelist
says that this blind man was sitting by the roadside begging (cf. v. 35). The
blind in those times — but also not so long ago — were able to live only by
alms. The figure of this blind man represents the many people who, today too,
are marginalized because of a disability, be it physical or of another kind. He
is separated from the flock, sitting there while people pass by: busy, lost in
their thoughts and in so many things.... And the road, which could be a place
of encounter, for him is instead a place of solitude. Crowds pass by ... and he
is alone.
It is sad to imagine a person
who has been marginalized, especially against the backdrop of Jericho, a
beautiful lush oasis in the desert. As we know, it was Jericho that the people
of Israel reached at the end of the long exodus from Egypt: that city
represents the gateway to the promised land. We remember the words that Moses
proclaimed in that context: “If there is among you a poor man, one of your
brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives
you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against
your poor brother. For the poor will never cease out of the land;
therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the
needy and to the poor, in the land” (Dt 15:7, 11). The contrast between this
recommendation of God’s Law and the situation described in the Gospel is
striking: while the blind man cried out, calling to Jesus, the people rebuked
him to silence him, as if he had no right to speak. They had no compassion for
him; his shouting only annoyed them. How often do we feel annoyed when we see
many people on the street — people in need, sick, hungry. How often, when we
find ourselves facing the many refugees, do we feel annoyed. It is a temptation
we all have. All of us; me too! That is why the Word of God admonishes us,
reminding us that indifference and hostility render us blind and deaf, they
impede us from seeing our brothers and do not allow us to recognize the Lord in
them. Indifference and hostility. Sometimes this indifference and hostility can
even grow into aggression and insult: “Just throw them all out!”; “put them
somewhere else!”. When the blind man was crying out, the people voiced this
aggression: “get out of here, come on, stop talking, stop crying”.
Let us take note of one
interesting detail in particular. The evangelist says that someone in the crowd
explained to the blind man the reason why all those people had gathered,
saying: “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!” (v. 37). Jesus’ passing by is
indicated with the same verb with which the Book of Exodus speaks of the
passing of the Angel of Death, who saves the Israelites in the land of Egypt
(cf. Exodus 12:23). It is the “passage” of Easter, the beginning of the
liberation: when Jesus passes by there is always liberation, there is always
salvation! Therefore, for the blind man, it was as if his Paschal Mystery was
proclaimed. Without allowing himself to be intimidated, the blind man cries out
repeatedly to Jesus, recognizing Him as the Son of David, the awaited Messiah
who, according to the prophet Isaiah, opened the eyes of the blind (cf. Isaiah
35:5). As opposed to the crowd, this blind man sees with the eyes of faith,
thanks to which his supplication has a powerful efficacy. In fact, on hearing
him, “Jesus stopped, and commanded that he be brought to him” (v. 40). By doing
so, Jesus takes the blind man away from the roadside and puts him at
the centre of the attention of His disciples and of the crowd. Let us
also think about when we have been in awful situations, including situations of
sin, how it was in fact Jesus who took us by the hand away from the roadside
and gave us salvation. In this way, a twofold passage is achieved. First: the
people proclaimed good news to the blind man, but they wanted nothing to do
with him; now Jesus obliges them all to be aware that the good news implies
putting at the centre of one’s path the person who was excluded from it.
Second: in his turn, the blind man could not see, but his faith opened the way
of salvation, and he finds himself amidst all those who had stopped on the road
to see Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, the
Lord’s passing by is an encounter of mercy that unites everything around him to
enable us to recognize one who is in need of help and of consolation. Jesus
also passes by in your Life; and when Jesus passes by, and I realize it, it is
an invitation to draw near to him, to be better, to be a better Christian, to
follow Jesus.
Jesus turns to the blind man
and asks him: “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 41). These words of
Jesus are striking: the Son of God is now before the blind man as a humble
servant. He, Jesus, God, says: “But what do you want me to do for you? How do
you want me to serve you?”. God makes himself a servant of the sinful man. And
the blind man answers Jesus, no longer calling him “Son of David,” but “Lord”,
the title that since the beginning the Church has applied to the Risen Jesus.
The blind man asks that he might see again, and his desire is heard: “Receive
your sight; your faith has made you well” (v. 42). He showed his faith by
invoking Jesus and wanting by all means to meet Him, and this brought him the
gift of salvation. Thanks to his faith, he can now see and, above all, he feels
that he is loved by Jesus.
Therefore, the account ends by
stating that the blind man “followed Him, glorifying God” (v. 43): he
becomes a disciple. From a beggar to a disciple: this is also our path. We
are all beggars, all of us. We are always in need of salvation. And all of us
should take this step every day: from beggars to disciples. And thus, the blind
man sets out behind the Lord, becoming part of his community. The one they
wanted to silence now witnesses aloud to his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth,
and “all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God” (v. 43). A second
miracle happens: what happened to the blind man also enables the people
to finally see. The same light illuminates them all, uniting them in a
prayer of praise. So Jesus pours out his mercy upon all those he meets: He
calls them, makes them come to him, gathers them, heals and enlightens them,
creating a new people that celebrates the wonders of his merciful love. Let us
also allow ourselves to be called by Jesus, and let us be healed by Jesus,
forgiven by Jesus, and let us follow Jesus, praising God. So be it!
Special
greetings:
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from
England, Scotland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden, Syria, Israel, Zambia, China,
Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America.
With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment
of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of
you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I address a special greeting
to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds.
Dear young people, especially you boys and girls of the Epicentro
giovanile of San Severo and those of the Istituto Penale of
Airola, may the Lord be your interior Teacher who perpetually guides you on
the path of the good. Dear sick people, offer up your suffering to
Christ Crucified in order to help him in the redemption of the world. And may
you, dear newlyweds, be conscious of the irreplaceable mission of
love to which you have committed your marriage.
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