That’s the Spirit

Come as the light; to us reveal
Our emptiness and woe,
And lead us in those paths of life
Where all the righteous go.

Today I want to concentrate on the line “Come as the light.” I love the gospel word picture of Jesus healing the blind beggar where he calls upon Jesus to make him see and the narrative goes on with Luke 18:42 Jesus replied, “Look and you will see! Your eyes are healed because of your faith.”  At once the man could see, and he went with Jesus and started thanking God. When the crowds saw what happened, they praised God.”

In the gospel incident the people tell the blind man to keep quiet. A useless beggar like him has no right disturbing the Master. But the man ignores them and keeps crying out. (In this he reminds us of the persistent widow we read about the other day.) Now Jesus stops. If the man had not kept calling out, Jesus might not have heard him and might have passed forever out of his life. How often does that happen to me? Is there something I need to call out to Jesus for today?

Michel de Verteuil says of this episode: ‘Lord, there are many people sitting at the side of the road, shouting to us to have pity on them, but they often shout in strange ways: by behaving badly ... by taking drugs and alcohol; by sulking, remaining silent or locked up in their rooms; sometimes by insisting that they are happy to be at the side of the road while others pass by. Like Jesus, we need to stop all that we are doing so that we can hear them express their deep longing to have their sight restored to them.’

‘I might also hear Jesus asking me, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Am I as prompt as the blind man to answer, do I know as well as he what I desire from Jesus? I too can ask to see again, to see God’s presence in my life and the life of the world, to see what the Lord wants me to do. I thank Jesus for his merciful and reassuring presence in my life.

A Prayer

Here I am Lord, coming to you to ask you to hear my prayer. Even though you know my needs Jesus, I need to tell you of them so you and I can have a conversation and my heart find it’s rest. Amen