The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)
Second Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28
Gospel: Mark 10:46-52

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

Sometimes the heart speaks to us with a stirring.  It’s those moments that we find ourselves keenly aware of our surroundings, even in the routine or dullness of the everyday.  Our eyes move faster, our thoughts seem clearer, our heart beats faster…there’s something out there, or something is about to happen.

For the blind beggar in Mark 10, the stir came without the vision that would exasperate the moment, but he could hear it…”Jesus, the Nazareth, is here in Jericho!” “Look there, one of the disciples buying his food!”  “Jesus has been performing miracles!”  One could only suspect the stirring that pounded on the beggar’s heart…pounded on his whole being.  The beggar’s thoughts circled around one thing:  “If only…if only Jesus could heal my blindness.”  Imagine every sound, every breathe, every surge of blood pumping, every pebble kicked up by the foot traffic in front of him…everything was highly sensitized…hopeful stirring.  Hope that the beggar could meet Jesus and ask for healing…ask for mercy.

How does your heart stir?  Where do you need healing?  What would God’s mercy look like?  Share it with someone who can pray with you.  Keep that stirring fresh in your being and believe that a merciful God will meet you where you are.

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Sandra Figueredo
Engagement Catalyst