This week’s Gospel reading talks about the blind man who was granted vision from Jesus. Jesus tells him, “Go your way, your faith has saved you.” After this message the blind man was able to see and then followed Jesus on his journey. This story sends a message to people of all backgrounds that when we believe strongly in our faith, our faith will grant us miracles. Every day and night the daily news shows stories of terrible things happening all over the world, and even close to home. It is easy to be frightened by these tragedies and focus on the negatives. The Gospel shows us that having faith in Jesus is crucial to our well being. Jesus can provide us with grace during times of hardship.

Taking time out of a busy or stressful day to meditate and pray to Jesus, even for a short period of time, can help a person so much with his mental state of mind. Jesus tells the blind man, “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” We are all called to be disciples of Jesus and live as he would want us to. Jesus gives us all courage throughout our days to complete daily tasks. He offers us his gifts so that we can share them with one another. Even during one hour of Mass so many people in the community display their gifts. Father Thorne stands in front of our Neumann community to talk freely with us about the Gospel and also add in some of his own feelings about the Gospel. We all give him the gift of respect when listening to him. Even during our normal everyday life we show our gifts through school, work, commuting, and talking with loved ones. Even allowing someone to merge in front on the highway is a gift to them. We have a tendency to become so consumed in ourselves that we can forget about other people’s feelings. Jesus stopped everything that he was doing is his journey to heal the blind man and give him the wonderful gift of sight. Jesus saw how thankful this man was and instantly knew he did the right thing. Sharing the gifts that we are given with each other can make us happier with ourselves because we know that we are making the people around us happy.