30 May 2024 -- Thursday of the 8th ordinary week
Homily
Jericho was an important city that the Galileans had to pass through on their way up to Jerusalem, when they came through the Jordan Valley. This city of palms in the middle of the desert of Judah was, in the Old Testament, the gateway to the Promised Land. Jesus passed through a few times but never stopped there. The Gospels do not mention that he preached or performed any miracles there. In today's Gospel, as Jesus makes his last ascent towards Jerusalem, where he will be put to death, he passes through Jericho, and on the outskirts of the city he passes a blind beggar, who is told that it is Jesus of Nazareth passing by, and who begins to cry out: ‘Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me’.