"Do You Believe That I Am Able To Do This?
7th Sunday of Pentecost
Romans 15:1-7; Matthew 9:27-35
- This is the question the Lord asked two blind men who asked Jesus to heal their blindness: "Have mercy on us, Son of David!". When the Lord was convinced that those physically blind people were truly full of faith, "Then He touched their eyes and said: 'According to your faith be it done to you!'" (Matthew 9:29).
An unhappy life it may be for many who can sense only the darkness of the night around them, who never see the light, who cannot see the beauty of nature God created for us, that we might feel its beauty, purpose and benefit for people - his most perfect creation. Not seeing the abundant richness of greenery, boundless beauty and variety of flowers, not seeing human smiles, not seeing one’s way - can be truly difficult.
There are various causes of blindness, which make people suffer. In some cases, modern medicine can help with blindness, restore or improve vision, yet, in some cases, medicine is powerless. But we are most moved and disturbed by human spiritual blindness. Because spiritual blindness is even more unfortunate than physical blindness: a person does not see the light of God's knowledge, does not see the joy of the Kingdom of God, does not see God in His creations.
A spiritually blind person, although able to see an amazingly beautiful flower, does not understand why and who arranged that circle of petals, that flower cup. A spiritually blind person may not see the true path in life, may fall into despair and fall further into the abyss of self-annihilation. If it is difficult to bear for such a person. We see this especially when such spiritually blind people end their lives by suicide.
Why and how does a person come by this spiritual blindness?
For an analogy, let us recall one cause of loss of bodily vision in humans and animals. We know a case when people were laid up in a bunker during the last World War. They had quite large reserves of various food and could survive for a long time in these underground chambers, but when they were dug out, they were all blind. People who were without light for a long time lost their sight, they had eyes but could not see.
In a similar way, horses, which in the past were lowered to work in underground mines, became blind after a long stay in the underground darkness.
And, so, it is for our souls. When a person is in the midst of sinful company (drunkenness, debauchery), when one reads immoral books, watches immoral films (moral corruption, murder, theft), when the human soul spends much time in spiritual darkness, breathes in the poisonous smoke of this world, remains for a long time outside the Church, then such persons lose their spiritual vision, turn away from God, from the Church.
There are, of course, people who are blinded by the brilliance - the lure of wealth. Sometimes such people no longer see God, but see only material gains, money, alcohol, entertainment... This spiritual blindness is a terrible disease, and when a person does not wash away the spiritual blindness through Christ's holy Mysteries, he/she will fall into the pit of perdition. Children and grandchildren can also make their way there, when they are in an environment of spiritual blindness.
Unbelief spiritually blinds a person, but faith makes a person see. That is why Christ asked the physically blind:
"Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matthew 9:28).
Through the Gospel, the Lord asks all of us - do we believe that He is able to do the works of God. This Gospel story is read to bring this to the attention of all of us. In our modern world, spiritual blindness is widely evident among various peoples. The further problem is, of course, that spiritually blind people do not think they are blind, they think they are wise (Romans 1:22).
The Apostle Paul testifies that those people who observe the workings of God in nature, yet do not want to recognize Him, do not want to recognize and accept his Divinity through the available and manifest Word of God - "they have no excuse" (Romans 1:20).
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.