Master, I want to see
1. Are We Blind?
2. Get Up! Jesus Will Open Your Eyes
Introduction
1. Are We Blind?
Let all of us to whom God has given good eyes thank God wholeheartedly for the gift of sight. But today the Lord asks us: Do you see with the eyes of your heart what I am asking of you? Do you see the way I have shown you? Do you see the people I have placed on your way and are you aware of their needs and hungers? Do you see the beauty of the world I created and are you willing to keep it a marvel for you and your children? Let us ask the Lord in this Eucharist to open our eyes to God and people.
2. Get Up! Jesus Will Open Your Eyes
Sometimes we feel like blind people groping in the dark or even dazed, sitting disheartened by the side of the road. We don’t see where we stand or where we are going, we cannot discern what we have to believe or to do. If only we would turn to Jesus and ask him, “Lord, let me see again!” May he restore our eyesight so that we can follow him on the road he shows us. Let this be our prayer today in this Eucharist.
First Reading: God Gathers His People Together
God gathers his people together from the far ends of the earth, even those whose faith is weak and hesitant. For he is a saving God and a Father.
1 Reading Jeremiah 31:7-9
Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
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.
Responsorial Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Second Reading: Jesus, the New High Priest
God himself has chosen our Savior Jesus as the new high priest. Jesus offered himself for our sins.
2 Reading Hebrews 5:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Alleluia 2 Timothy 1:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Lord, That I May See!
Jesus makes a blind man see again. This man is the image of every Christian; we must learn to see with eyes of faith to follow Jesus.
Gospel Mark 10:46-52
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
“Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
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.
Commentary
I have a friend who has become blind in her old age, but her mind is as bright as a button. She still gives lectures, but she said that what pains her especially is being unable to see people’s faces. Not till we lose our sight do we know how much we depend on it: for getting around objects, yes, but also for getting on with people. The human face speaks by every feature, not only by the mouth; we know how something is meant because we see the other’s face. A blind beggar’s misery is compounded: worse than the sum of misery of a blind person and a beggar. He is totally at our mercy, stretching out his hand into the darkness, unable to gauge our mood, not knowing if we even see him. Every believer is that man, most of the time. Faith is dark knowledge. Often we lift up our hands in prayer, and we feel no presence of the Other; we hear neither a promise nor a refusal. That is the time to remember Bartimaeus.
Blessing
We have heard in this Eucharist
how the Lord gives new light to dead eyes.
A blind man sees and follows the Lord.
May the Lord make us people
who see with eyes of faith.
May the Lord help us to see the road to follow
and to recognize the Lord in our life.
May he give us the joy to follow him.
And may almighty God bless all of you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace and let the Lord’s light shine on you.
R/ Thanks be to God.