Dec 11 Mon
A life of prayer leads us to do God's will
The blind man Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside, cried out to Jesus: "Son of David, have mercy on me." Some passers-by rebuked him, trying to silence him, but he cried out all the more. Our Lord had heard him from the start; nevertheless, he wanted him to persist in his prayer. Then he told them to bring in the blind man to him. “And now begins a dialogue dialog that moves us and sets our hearts on fire, for you and I are now Bartimaeus."
St Augustine asks: “What does it mean ‘to cry out to Christ’ but to get ready for God's grace by good deeds? Let never happen that we raise our voices while our good deeds fall silent. Who cries out to Christ? - Whoever scorns the world, cries out to Christ. Whoever puts behind material pleasures, cries out to Christ. Whoever says, not with his words but with his whole life, ‘the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world’, he cries out to Christ."
To come to our side, Jesus expects deeds from us, not just words, even though our good deeds themselves depend on his grace.
St. Josemaría wrote: “Pray with me now to our Lord: teach me to do your will, for you are my God. In short, our lips should express a true desire on our part to correspond effectively to our Creator's requests, striving to follow out his plans with unshakeable faith, being fully convinced that he cannot fail us."
“If we love God's will in this way, we shall come to understand that the value of our faith lies not only in how clearly we express it, but also in our determination to defend it by our deeds, and to act accordingly."
“But let us go back to the scene outside Jericho. It is now to you that Christ is speaking. He asks you, ‘What is it you want of me?’ ‘That I may see, Lord, that I may see!’ Then Jesus answers, ‘Go home. Your faith has brought you recovery.’ And all at once he recovered his sight and followed Jesus on his way."
“Following Jesus on his way. You have understood what our Lord was asking from you, and you have decided to accompany him on his way. You are trying to walk in his footsteps, to clothe yourself in Christ's clothing, to be Christ himself: well, your faith, must be both operative and full of sacrifice. Don't fool yourself. Don't think you are going to find new ways. The faith he demands of us is as I have said. We must keep in step with him, working generously and at the same time uprooting and getting rid of everything that gets in the way."
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