I Want to See

October 28, 2012

Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2012 B

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng.  They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble.  For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.  Jeremiah 31:8-9

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"  The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."  Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."  Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.  Mark 10:51-52

Piety

The vision people have of our piety is seen in how much of the Christ of our actions people see.  The truth of many people’s connection of their lives to Christ is hard to see.  Our Gospel of today is about Bartimaeus, the blind person.  He cried out for the help of the Lord loud enough that Christ was able to hear above the hubbub of the noise of the crowd that accompanied him.  He asked for the pity of the Lord.  The crowd tried to shush him and he cried out all the more.  Because of the something the Lord heard in his cry he told his disciples to bring the man to him.  Jesus asked the man what he wanted.  His cry became his desire to see.  Our cry should be that we see the plan of God for us that will make the world a better place.  How we support change in our world and do our part to give others the chance to live in their dignity in Christ is the challenge.

Study

The blind man, when he regained his sight, followed Christ.  We cannot be blind to the hungry, thirsty, sick and prisoners of our world.  The challenge is vision of those who are suffering.  We need to see who are being afflicted by the blindness of our world.  Education reveals what needs doing.   Willingness to put ourselves out in doing what we can against the incredible blindness of those who would keep people poor is seen by sharing not just the leftovers of our lives.   We have to share from our essentials of life if we are to make a difference for the world.  We need to study how we can live more simply even if we are going to be the only ones trying to live up to the plan of God.

Action

We need to join ourselves to the priesthood of Christ.  We know that there is no greater love than to give our lives for the sake of each other.  The little we can do is made all the more when we bring the problems of our world through our prayer to God to allow us to make a difference.  What we are offering out lives for is that Christ be seen.  There is no way we will keep our courage high if we do not become extensions of Christ by our prayer.  Our cry to the Lord must be that we might be able to see what is being asked of us and have the courage to try to do our part.  God will reveal to us the directions our actions must take if we are going to be able to make a difference in our world today.  The cross of Christ gives meaning to every sacrifice of our lives we make as we become the hands and the feet of Christ by reaching out in his name for the poor.   We need to see Christ working in all the ways we offer our lives to make a better world.  Prayer will allow our hearts to see what love is all about.  The ways we get the courage to go on the journey of Christ to announce the good news of salvation to our world is to bring our feeble efforts to God to bless in the presences of Jesus in our lives.  By being his hands and feet to reach the hurting and the needy we will bring sight to those who will find Christ in what we are doing in his name.