St. Albert the Great, bishop & doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

１Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63*

 From their descendants

There came a godless offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus, who had been held as hostage in Rome. He became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the Greek era (175 B.C.).

 (……)On the fifteenth day of the month of Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five, Antiochus erected the “abom­inable idol of the invaders” on the altar of the temple. Pagan altars were built throughout the whole land of Judea; incense was offered at the doors of their houses and in the squares. 

There wicked men tore up the books of the Law they found and burned them. They killed anyone they caught in possession of the book of the Covenant and who fulfilled the precepts of the Law, as the royal de­cree had ordered. 

But in spite of all this, many Is­ra­elites still remained firm and deter­mined not to eat unclean food. They preferred to die rather than to make themselves unclean with those foods (prohibited by the Law) that violated the Holy Covenant.

 

Ps  119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Luke 18:35-43

 When Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road, begging.   As he heard the crowd passing by, he inquired what it was,   and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by. Then he cried out,   “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”   The people in front scolded him, “Be quiet!” but he cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and ordered the blind man to be brought to him, and when he came near, he asked him,   “What do you want me to do for you?” And the man said, “Lord, that I may see!”   Jesus said, “Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.”   At once the blind man was able to see, and he followed Jesus, giving praise to God. And all the people who were there also praised God.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Prayer can bring a lot of relief and comfort. We usually resort to prayer when things are bigger than our capacity to face them. But sometimes, it can also be discouraging. What more can be said when we couldn’t even pray because people make it impossible for us to do so?

Take for example the blind man in today’s Gospel reading. The crowd is the barrier to his prayer. Instead of helping him cry out to Jesus, they seek to silence him. “Be quite,” they warn him.

It is not enough that he is already blind; they also try to make him mute. How could people be so unfeeling sometimes? Worse, they even want Jesus to play deaf! Despite these formidable obstacles, the blind man perseveres.

He got what he wants. Jesus cures him without hesitation. God eventually hears the prayer of a person who perseveres.