Daily Catholic Lectio
Mon, 17 November ‘25
Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Monday
1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64. Luke 18:35-43
What’s This?
The Word today opens with a shock: a people who once walked in the covenant now choose to forget it. In the First Book of Maccabees, Israel stands at a crossroads. A new culture, a new power, a new attraction spreads across the land—and many ask no questions. They simply blend in, surrendering their identity, their faith, their practices. Only a few dare to resist. Their fidelity begins with clarity: with the courage to ask, “What is this that is happening to us?”
In the Gospel, another man stands at a very different crossroads—the blind beggar sitting by the roadside as Jesus approaches Jericho. But he begins with the same sacred question: “What’s this?”
Luke preserves his Greek words with care: Ti estin touto? It is not a casual question. It is the question that redirects a life. A moment passes by—something unusual, unexpected, unrepeatable. The blind man knows it. He senses what others do not. Something stirs the heart before the mind understands. He asks. He does not let the moment slip.
This is the hinge of the Gospel: a man who cannot see notices something that those with sight overlook.
1. The question that awakens us
The crowd moves. Dust rises. Voices swirl. Yet only one man stops to ask. Perhaps he felt a shift in the air. Perhaps he sensed a presence long awaited. Perhaps he recognised, in his inner depths, the One his spirit had been searching for. His simple question—“What’s this?”—opens his soul.
This is where the readings meet. In Maccabees, the people stop asking. They accept what comes, even when it leads them away from God. In the Gospel, the blind man begins by asking. And that question brings him to God.
Life turns on such questions. When we stop asking, we drift. When we ask with honesty, grace begins to work.
2. The courage to persist
The crowd answers: “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” This is the invitation. Suddenly, a whisper becomes a cry: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” But the same crowd that offers information also becomes a barrier. They rebuke him. They silence him. They tell him he is unworthy, bothersome, irrelevant.
This is often how the world behaves. When we search for the truth—some will help, some will hinder. When we seek God—some will accompany, some will discourage. Yet the man persists. Because the question has already opened his heart. Once awakened, he refuses to return to silence.
3. The clarity to ask for what we truly need
Jesus finally stops. He asks a question He knows the answer to: “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man does not hesitate. “Lord, I want to see again.” Two marvels shine here.
First, he knows exactly what he needs. His desire is clear. There is no confusion, no vague petition, no half-formed wish. His prayer is precise because his heart is awake. Second, his request reveals something deeper. He says, “I want to see again.” Perhaps he once had physical sight and lost it. But spiritually, he already sees—he recognises Jesus as the Son of David. The first sight was through the heart. Now he longs for the sight of the eyes. When the inner vision is clear, the outer vision follows.
4. A question for our time
“What’s this?” It is not a question of curiosity alone. It is a question that can save a soul.
When events around us confuse, trouble, or distract us— When noise, opinions, and pressures crowd us— When the world’s values blur our spiritual identity— This question becomes a compass. Not to examine others, but to examine ourselves. Not to judge others, but to awaken our own hearts. Not to pry into another’s life, but to rediscover our direction before God.
If we dare to ask this question in truth, our past can change, our path can shift, and our future can open.
Today, as we witness a world that often passes by without reflection— let us be like the blind man who stopped, listened, sensed, questioned, and called out for mercy. Let this question rise not from suspicion but from longing.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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