A Word for the Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Two blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them: do you believe that I am able to do this? They answered Him: yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying: according to your faith let it be to you (Mt 9:28-29).

What an astonishing power of faith in the Lord! By faith alone in His omnipotence, two blind men instantly receive their sight. We heard this read today in the Gospel. Let us repeat what it says. «As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying: have mercy on us, Son of David! And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them: do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him: yes, Lord! Then He touched their eyes, saying: according to your faith let it be to you. And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying: see that no one knows it. But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country» (Mt 9:27-31).

So then, let me say it again: what a power faith is! What a precious treasure—a sincere, firm, and unwavering faith in Christ—if through it one can obtain every blessing from the ever-flowing Source of every blessing, the Lord God! And indeed, which of us has not received from the Lord, if only he came to Him with sincere faith and sincere repentance, every blessing of soul and body—and that, many times over in a single day? Christians who always live by faith, and are accustomed to turn to the Lord in every need, testify loudly that, for their faith, the Lord works for them, in their inner world, and not infrequently outside it too, countless miracles of His goodness and power; that they move mountains by the grace of God—not earthly mountains, though even these obey the believer, but mountains of sorrows and the enemy’s assaults, weighing down upon the soul; that by faith they heal their own infirmities of soul and body, conquer their passions, are cleansed from the defilement of sin, receive moral strength which they did not have before, and accomplish every righteous thing. But if faith is so great a good for man, why do not all possess it; why do not all strive to acquire this treasure, more precious than every earthly treasure? Why are unbelievers met with more often than believers? For God is no respecter of persons, and is ready to pour out His treasures upon all who earnestly desire and seek them.

Many do not have faith, do not possess faith, from their own ignorance, and because they do not seek it and do not ask it earnestly of God; for faith is a gift of God. Others do not have faith, from the pride of a haughty mind; or because they have turned with their whole mind and their whole heart to the world and to the flesh, and not to God and His holy law—do not treasure faith, as though it were something of little importance, without which one could supposedly easily get along—and, finally, because they do not cleanse their heart with sincere repentance: for faith cannot dwell in an unrepentant heart, as a pure daughter of heaven. This is why sincere, firm, and unfeigned faith is counted as a merit in a man, and for the sake of it the Lord imparts to us countless blessings. And this is why the Lord Jesus Christ sought faith in people, and for their faith forgave sins, worked miracles—namely, healed every kind of sickness, raised the dead; and gave this same authority to His own apostles too, commanding them to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse lepers.

One can also point to yet another reason why the Lord required faith as a condition for receiving His mercies. Faith of the heart serves in a man, as it were, as hands or a mouth for receiving the gifts of God: what the hand or the mouth is to the body of a man, faith is to the soul; faith is the instrument and the means for receiving the mercies of God. Faith is the mouth of the soul: open the mouth with prayer and repentance, and the soul will be filled with grace. To destroy the soul of a man, the devil shuts the mouth of the heart, so that the man will not converse with God, will not pray, will not ask of Him, will not glorify or thank Him; it is plain, then, that we must open the mouth of the heart as often as possible, must kindle within ourselves a cooling faith, and turn to God again and again with a prayer of faith: for we are all wretched, poor, blind, and naked without God. And here is yet another reason why the Lord requires faith in God from men. After the fall, people were darkened and fell into ignorance of God, fell away from God and from His commandments, and began to worship the creature instead of the Creator, even counting demons as gods and serving them as gods, though the demons did them every possible harm. To correct this ruinous error of men, and desiring to bring all to the knowledge of the true God, the Creator of all things, the Lord Jesus Christ, as Creator and Master, appeared in the flesh, showing to all, by His deeds, His Godhead and His power, and required, as a rightful tribute, faith in Himself as the Almighty Creator, «who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven» — this is why He asks the blind men, before working the miracle: do you believe that I am able to do this? — that is, do you believe that I am the Creator, who has appeared for you in the flesh? — and when He heard their affirmative answer, He said: according to your faith let it be to you. «And their eyes were opened».

Let us too, brothers, believe without doubting that even now «the Lord is near» (Phil 4:5) to us, that He is «the same yesterday, today, and forever» (Hebr 13:8)—All-good, Almighty, Everywhere-present, All-knowing, Knower of hearts, All-merciful, All-bountiful, Good and Swift to hear, Comforting, Bountiful—and, as His children, let us come to Him in our prayers with faith, in repentance, as sinners, with hope and boldness: and we shall receive from Him every mercy.

O Lord! Add faith to us too, and heal the blindness of our hearts, the blindness of our sins and passions, which in this present corrupt time have grown especially strong. Amen.