Commentary on the Gospel of
Gift of Perseverance
Imagine two blind men following Jesus and “catching up” with him! It definitely takes some doing for one who is blind to keep following a person who is walking ahead, probably flanked by many people, and then manage to catch up with him. In other words, it calls for the virtue of perseverance, which St. Augustine calls “a gift from God.” In a world of shortcuts and instant gratification, embracing perseverance can be a hard act. People give up easily on their projects, on others, and even on God. A glance around us is enough to see how easily people give up on their dreams, sadly. The kind of a new world that Isaiah speaks of in the first reading does not happen automatically; it takes much perseverance to dream such dreams of God and to keep working relentlessly at realizing them. Be it in life in the world or life in the spirit, perseverance pays.
