Guided reflection:

Jesus sure knew how to create a stir! A man who as consider “dumb” meant he was not able to speak AND he was never able to see as well. Jesus healed the man – now he is able to speak and to see! What a great miracle… and the regular folks were amazed and began to say that maybe Jesus was the Messiah. But the churchy types had no concern for the man’s plight… they were ticked that the people thought too highly of Jesus! They really missed the point, didn’t they? Jesus is trying to heal someone and they want to concentrate on “who does he think he is to heal people!” Oh, my. We still do it today. We focus on the minor things and forget what we are called to do. This section of the Jesus stories is full of Jesus’ frustration in dealing with the Pharisees. Have you ever had a Pharisee-type after you… or have you ever been a Pharisee? Ouch!

Guided prayer:

“O giving and loving God, we know that you want us to see the human condition around us. You want us to do what we can to ease human suffering. But we would rather fight over politics, and who is responsible, and who is going to pay for things... and somehow the people in need get lost in the debate. Father, forgive me for the times I have missed the point. Amen”