Your Eyes Will Be Opened

February 13, 2003

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

“No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” Genesis 3:5

…Then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7:34-35

Piety
God’s Grandeur

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.

Father, speak plainly to us. Through the work of your Son, open our eyes to see the grandeur that you have made in the world and in each other. Open our ears to hear your word. Holy Spirit, help us to remove or overcome whatever obstacles we encounter to God’s friendship. Amen.

Study

Does God want our eyes and ears open?

Of course he does! The serpent could not be more wrong. In fact consider what Jesus said and did time after time to open the eyes and ears of those around him. In fact, he wants our eyes and ears open so we can freely choose to follow him. When our eyes are open, we are not like God. Rather, we are like God’s children. Through what we see and hear, we can follow God’s word.

And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. (For) whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." Mark 3:34-35

If that is true, are we getting mixed messages between the readings from Genesis and Mark?

The messages of Genesis and Mark are complimentary. It is not knowledge of God that we are asked to avoid. God gives us His word, each other, the sacraments, the wide, wonderful world and so much more so we CAN get to know him.

The lesson is not to avoid knowledge of God, but rather to choose obedience and humility. That is what God wants us to emulate.

Action

Consider God’s grandeur today. Although we are shrugging off the last few weeks of winter, seek out a place of beauty. Maybe you will find it by walking to the top of a hill. Or maybe you will see that beauty in the flower sold at a nearby shop. Or maybe you will see it in the hospital nursery or your own child’s bedroom.

God wants us to know him and appreciate his awesome creativity.