To grow gradually in faith.

Our proverb says: “A job shaky pays little.” When a man sets out to do something quickly, he will not avoid mistakes. Alternatively, when a student wants to learn something quickly, he also forgets quickly. A pupil does not learn to read and write in a day or a week. This is self-evident. Only children dream of impossible things. They would like to be excellent singers, actors, athletes, and they don’t persist in their studies or training. Those who have attempted something like this know that it is hard work on themselves, and success comes later. That’s why many don’t last; they quit.

And we have to reckon with something similar in the spiritual life. Even holiness, perfection, character did not just come to man out of thin air. Here also everyone has to work on himself. Years pass and only then do we see success.

In the Gospel, we hear of the healing of the blind man. In this miracle, the Lord Jesus wants to show us something similar.

What are we to notice in the actions of the Lord Jesus? We see that He does not heal the blind man suddenly, as He often did in other cases. The Lord Jesus, as God, could have restored the blind man’s sight in an instant, but He does it gradually. Jesus’ conduct speaks of a kind of popular healing. Taking the sick man by the hand, he leads him aside. He touches his diseased eyes with his salty finger and finally lays his hands on him. One might even ask questions as he does this: Why does the Lord Jesus restore the blind man’s sight in this way? Is it perhaps to make the blind man appreciate the gift of view all the more? Others think that the Savior meant to be patient with the mentally blind. But we may also note from the Gospel text that the Evangelist Mark does not want to dwell at this point on the efficacy of Jesus’ procedure but a kind of gradual, step-by-step process of healing. Watching Jesus in this case, it seems to us as if Jesus had to gradually exert more energy out of himself to heal the sick person. And this is the intent of the evangelist. The Lord Jesus slowly reveals his existence.

In this healing, Jesus wanted to bring all those involved in this event to strive not only to penetrate the depth of the teachings of the Lord Jesus, but also to strive to understand the Lord Jesus himself in the whole of his mission, to see the depth of his actions, behavior, deeds, and words.

We realize that it is not enough to know a first-conversion or confirmation young Christian to be good Christians. Still, as we grow older, our theoretical and practical understanding of the person of Jesus Christ, the history of the Church, and the present conditions of the Church should produce in us in equal measure. It will not bear any great leaps if we want joy and benefit from our faith. That would be a certain moodiness and superficiality.

Jesus meant by this Gospel to encourage us to grow slowly and gradually in our faith, in our relationship to Him, in our knowledge of our duties, so that we may know how to be enriched by what the teachings of Jesus Christ have to offer us. Too much fluctuation, leaping about in the spiritual life, always brings many mistakes, errors, and failures. Such a course of action would be wrong.
We recognize that we cannot know God all at once. It is a long and challenging journey as we progress in our faith and see more clearly and distinctly the reality of God. We know that it is only in the second place that we will see God face to face. When our faith journey seems difficult and dark, let us keep this in mind. We know that the seed sown must die, yet the stalk will grow, and only then the expected ear of the harvest.

The Lord guides each of us as we place ourselves in His hands. Often He takes us aside so that no one will see, recognize, or recognize how He is testing us and preparing us for that final vision of God’s face. He typically instructs us himself, makes us feel his hand, reveals to us things events, and with Jesus’ help, we can see more rightly.

Even the blind man in the Gospel was asked by the Lord Jesus: “Do you see anything?” (Mk 8:23). He looked and said: “I see people; it seems to me as if trees were walking.” (Mk. 8:24).

Jesus gradually heals our eyes of faith as well. The first sight is typically unclear. We do not understand; perhaps we are dissatisfied with the actions of Jesus. Jesus takes us further. Usually, once we have tasted the sweetness of the Lord Jesus’ teaching, and when we look back, we say to ourselves: It was worth it to persevere, not to stomp on, even if it was hard or took longer than we wished. But we are happy.

May we also remember the words of the proverb in the realm of faith: ‘Work of little worth, work of little worth.’