Open My Eyes to You, Lord

Open My Eyes to You, Lord  

June 4, 2012

Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

For four years I was deprived of eyesight … I would not believe her,  (that the goat was a gift) and told her to give it back to its owners.  I became very angry with her over this.  So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts?  See! Your true character is finally showing itself!” (Tobit 2:10, 14)

Knowing their hypocrisy (Jesus) said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Mark 12:15-17)

Piety 

Open my eyes, Lord

 Help me to see Your face

 Open my eyes, Lord

 Help me to see

Open my ears, Lord

Help me to hear Your voice

Open my ears, Lord

Help me to hear

Open my heart, Lord

Help me to love like You

Open my heart, Lord

Help me to love

(from Open My Eyes, Lord, John Michael Talbot, “Worship and Bow Down, 2011) 

Study

Several years ago a movie, “Vantage Point” came out that while not a great movie had an intriguing premise.  It was the story of an assassination attempt told from the points of view of 7 different characters.  And, of course, behind those scenes another plot twist unfolded.  It was fascinating that just moving the vantage point allowed different elements of the event to be revealed and interpreted in completely different ways.  One of the themes was seeing the truth.  The protagonist (played by Dennis Quaid) wanted to find the truth.

We see our world and our lives from vantage points informed by upbringing, beliefs, fears, learned behaviors and values, physical attributes and other factors.  Our vantage point might be restricted, open, unswerving, non-committal, etc.   Frankly, as tests on human observation abilities with respect to eye-witnessing crimes have shown, our vantage point and interpretive abilities can be downright wrong. 

Jesus asks us to use the vantage point of love.  Tobit is perhaps hampered by his life of persecution so that even with the tragedy of physical blindness he cannot “see” the truth of his wife’s story.  The temple leaders’ vantage point is one of holding onto power.  They will not see the Word before them because for them, they value their word.  And, sadly, the truth they claim is based on being God’s chosen people.  They claim a vantage point but do not really honor it.  Jesus sees through their hypocrisy.   He points them, as he does repeatedly in the Gospels, to a vantage point of God and God’s love.  He exposes their vantage point and ultimately offers another.

Action 

There are times when I act with blindness brought on by certainty, erected by me, that is actually my own lack of “eyesight” for God’s presence.   I judge the homeless man with his hand out.  I become irritated when I hear someone speaking out of ignorance.  I am impatient with shallowness.  I become defensive when someone offers me a gift which I feel “unworthy” to accept.  As someone wise once said, when you are annoyed by another, what in that other do you react to that is within yourself?

When do you act out of blindness – and why?  Open your heart to Christ.  Ask Jesus to give you a new vantage point.  Ask Christ to help you to see, hear and love more each day.