In the gospel passage today, we read about the curing of the blind man. On hearing the crowd, the blind man asks why is there a commotion. He is told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. This prompts him to cry out to Jesus. Only, he does not address him as Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, blind as he is, he cries out with inspired insight, calling Jesus by the messianic title, "Son of David". In doing so, he proclaims Jesus' royalty and asks that Jesus have mercy on him.

The crowd, however, stand in the way. They try to silence him. To them, the blind man is merely an 'insignificnt' person who is bothering the Master. But it is for lowly people like the blind man that Jesus had come. Jesus stops before him. When Jesus calls out to him and asks what he can do for him, the beggar addressed Jesus as Lord, and receives his sight. In healing him, Jesus demonstrates that Jesus is the Son of David, the messianic king.

Many of us wish to have a closer relationship with the Lord. Often, however, there are persons, things and situations that prevent us from seeing Jesus in our midst. They make us 'blind' to the presence of Jesus. The blind man's faith called for the gift of sight. He did not allow anyone to prevent him from encountering Jesus. In the same way, we must have the faith to cry out to Jesus constantly so that we too may have our eyes opened to his presence in our daily lives.