💖 HOMILY - NOVEMBER 14 💖

First Reading - Apocalypse 1:1-4,2:1-5

Gospel - Luke 18:35-43

Faith is a journey with many ups and downs. If our faith is disturbed by the storms of our lives and challenged by failures, we are to recharge it by constant prayers and calmness of heart. The readings of today invite us to revive our faith and make it firm and strong.

The first reading is taken from the Book of Revelation. The given passage invites the believers to believe in the vision of John. The vision of John is directed to the seven churches in Asia Minor but has a universal significance. The first church that is mentioned in the passage is Ephesus. The author appreciates the strong and firm belief of the believers but brings to their notice the mellowing down of faith. He encourages the believers to reinforce their faith in Christ as before.

The gospel narrates another example of faith of a blind man sitting at the side of the road and begging. The faith of the man is evident in his calling out to Jesus in the midst of the crowd: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." This voice of the blind man was the cry of faith, pleading for mercy. Jesus, even in the midst of shouting crowd, could hear him. This is the impact of the cry of faith.

Dear friends, faith is a powerful weapon that we have that can fight the hardest of our situations and reach out to God in the midst of destructive storms of life. The first brings to our notice that our faith can get waned if not taken care well. Therefore, John encourages to reinforce and constantly watch over our faith. It's really true that if we don't care for our faith, it will wane and ultimately disappear.

We encounter the blind man in the gospel, a beautiful example of faith. The crowd saw Jesus, heard and followed him but the blind man believed in Jesus. He exhibited his faith in calling out to him for his mercy or favour. People tried to silence him and the shouting crowd was another barrier to get his voice to Jesus but he continued. This shows his faith. It's the faith of the man that becomes a vehicle to reach his message to Jesus even in the midst of a great shouting crowd. This is the impact of the cry of faith. This also tells us that the cry of our faith never goes unanswered or unnoticed. We do listen to Jesus in the the readings and try to follow him but at times faith is not attached to what we do. Every activity that we do should be an act of faith and should become the cry of our faith and we are assured today that this kind of faith will never be unrewarded or unnoticed.

Today we are invited to make our every prayer, a cry of faith like the blind man and we can be sure of an answer from God. Let the disturbances and barriers not prevent us to cry to Jesus. This needs a strong faith and deep conviction. Let's pray for a strong faith and deep conviction of heart like the blind man and the faithful Israel of the first reading.

May God increase our faith.