His Holiness Pope Francis at Mass in Cyprus: Only together can we be healed from blinding darkness
This article is also available in Arabic.
His Holiness Pope Francis refers to the parable of the two blind men from Mark's Gospel to urge Cypriots to follow three steps in order to be freed of a similar darkness in which we often find ourselves.
By Francesca Merlo
Addressing the faithful in Nicosia's “GSP Stadium” for Holy Mass in Cyprus, His Holiness Pope Francis recalled a passage from Mark's Gospel, in which as Jesus passed by, two blind men cried out "Have mercy on us, Son of David". The Pope noted that the two men are blind, yet they realise that Jesus is the Messiah who has come into the world. They can help us, during this advent season, "to welcome the Lord when he comes", said the Pope.
Step one: going to Jesus
Pope Francis noted that the first step is that the two "went to Jesus for healing". Although they cannot see him, he said, "they hear his voice and follow his footsteps". The two men in the Gospel trusted in Jesus, he continued, and so "they followed him in search of light for their eyes".
The Pope noted that the two trusted in Jesus because "they realise that, within the darkness of history, he is the light that brightens the “nights” of the heart and the world". He stressed that we too have a kind of “blindness” in our hearts, and like the two blind men are often immersed in the darkness of life. Often we would rather remain closed in on ourselves, alone in the darkness, feeling sorry for ourselves and content to have sadness as our companion, but instead we must go to Jesus, said the Pope. Let us give Jesus the chance to heal our hearts.
His Holiness Pope Francis during Mass in Nicosia's GSP Stadium
Step two: sharing their pain
The next step, continued the Pope, is that "they shared their pain". They ask for help together, said the Pope. "This is an eloquent sign of the Christian life and the distinctive trait of the ecclesial spirit: to think, to speak and to act as “we”, renouncing the individualism and the sense of self-sufficiency that infect the heart".
These two blind men have much to teach us, continued the Pope. "Each of us is blind in some way as a result of sin", he explained, adding that this "prevents us from “seeing” God as our Father and one another as brothers and sisters". This sin distorts reality, continued the Pope, but if we bear our inner blindness alone, we can become overwhelmed. "We need to stand beside one another, to share our pain and to face the road ahead together", he said.
Renew our sense of fraternity
His Holiness Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Nicosia's GSP Stadium
Dear brothers and sisters, continued the Pope. "Faced with our own inner darkness and the challenges before us in the Church and in society, we are called to renew our sense of fraternity". If we remain divided we will never be completely healed of our blindness", he stressed. Healing takes place when we carry our pain together, when we face our problems together, when we listen and speak to one another …
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