THE LAME AND BLIND MONK

Thursday in the 3rd Week of Ordinary Time
Mk 4:21-25

There was once a monk who spent his whole life sitting inside a dark cave. He meditated day-in and day-out. He never stepped out of his cave. He never rose from his meditation. He simply sat there meditating inside his dark cave all throughout his life. He had disciples though who brought him food and drink. Few grains of wheat and few drops of water were all he consumed. At the end of his quiet life, he died lame and blind, for he never used his ability to walk and his sense of sight.

Jesus concludes the gospel today with a warning: “…the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Our monk-story illustrates this point clearly. Anything we have if not put into good and regular use weakens until it is completely gone. But that which we use properly and often, strengthens and grows.

What then do we have? Do we use it at all? How do we use it?

What a pity for us if we do not even know what we have. Worse if we do not use it at all. And worst if we do not use it for a good end.