Those in the Lead

Gospel: Luke 18: 35-43

Today's Gospel portion makes note of a particular phenomenon all too familiar in religion.  It notes that those in the lead actively sought to drown out the voice and needs of the man in need.  They actively sought to prevent an encounter between this blind man seeking healing and the Lord Jesus.  We find this dynamic happening repeatedly in Gospel stories where people aggressively seek to prevent people from having a salvific encounter with Jesus.

We find this to be the case in the life of religion on a regular basis.  Those who would put themselves in the lead - the self-proclaimed "faithful" Catholics - time and again actively seek to prevent people from having a saving encounter with the Lord.  Whether it's their worthiness machine at the communion procession or even to receive a simple priestly blessing, those who put themselves out there as leaders and faithful repeatedly block access to the Lord Jesus.

We could get angry at such people and rant and rave about such behavior.  Or, we could do what Jesus did time and again in the Gospels.  We can simply ignore them and go about the work of Jesus, seeking to heal, liberate, and feed those who are ill, possessed, and hungry.  Certainly one will face the wrath of the self-proclaimed faithful ones, as Jesus did, but the important thing is that the ill person received healing, the possessed person liberated from their demons, the hungry person fed.