EYES TO SEE AGAIN
Introduction
The deluge ends. God and people are reconciled again. The dove returns with an olive branch in its beak. Noah thanks the Lord.
As a sign that he came to heal – that is, to make whole again – to bring forgiveness and life to the whole person, Jesus restores the sight of the blind, makes the deaf hear again, even raises the dead back to life. He does not only bring good news of hope and healing, he is that Good News, he embodies it in himself and shares it with people in word and deed.
Opening Prayer
Healing God,
each of us too could say:
let me see again,
for I am blind to the love you show me
in the people around me.
Let me see again,
for I am blind to your splendor and beauty
that you reveal to me in your creation
and in the events of life.
Open my eyes to your goodness and mercy
that you display in good people.
May we hear from the lips of your Son:
“your faith has saved you.”
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading – GENESIS 8:6-13, 20-22
At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark, and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth. Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark. He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark. In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth. He waited still another seven days and then released the dove once more; and this time it did not come back. In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up. Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: “Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Responsorial PSALM 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise. or: Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD. R.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones. R.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem. R.
Alleluia cf. EPHESIANS 1:17-18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to his call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – MARK 8:22-26
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
Commentary
Raising cats and dogs instead of kids is blindness.
The people of Bethsaida brought a blind man to Jesus. Although he did not ask Jesus to heal him, or maybe he did not even ask to be brought to Jesus, Jesus heals him at the request of his friends. But there is a curious description in this healing story. Jesus took his hand and led him outside the village.
Mark has an important message to communicate in writing this. When Jesus touches our hearts, he takes us by hand, leads us to regain our sight, helps us to become conscious of our disillusioned way of living, and encourages us to leave our previous environment and lifestyle and change our behaviour.
There are numerous occasions when the evil around us keeps us blind, and we do not even realise that we need healing. The forces that try to steal our attention from Jesus; that try to steal our dignity; that try to allure us to egoistic desires of power, prestige, pleasure and possessions – all these keep us blind to the mercy of God. Still, the infinite Mercy of God restores and recreates us – physically, psychologically, morally, emotionally, and spiritually ….
The healing of the blind happens gradually. When he begins to see, he begins to have blurred vision. This is exactly how Jesus works in our lives too. He opens our eyes through His Word, little by little: The more we listen to it, the more we meditate on the Words of Jesus, and the more we become conscious of the reality we live in – our vision of the will of God and his plans for us becomes clearer to us – For this, we must allow the Lord to lead us out of the village of our prejudices, misconceptions and comfort zones.
All this process began with a group of friends who brought this blind man to Jesus. This is the same as when we intercede for someone who needs help to be freed from blinding slavery to sin. We have the responsibility of praying for others and helping them to come before the Lord.
It is important to identify those forces that blind us today: The media and their advertisements accuse us of not being beautiful enough, not being rich enough, or not being free and strong enough … if we do not do what is being advertised. They blind us to buying their products. Pope Francis had warned the faithful of their misconceptions about solo living, autonomy and self-sufficiency, which resulted in Catholic couples refusing to have children but raising dogs and cats instead. We are the blind who needs healing today.
There are many Catholics who believe abortion, mercy-killing, wars, genocide etc, are the norm of the day. The world is blind – it stands in need of healing. Worse, Nigeria. Lord restore our sight in the forthcoming elections, heal our land, restore your glory in this country and give us new leadership represented by real human beings not old thieves in old political unions. Amen!
Intentions
– Lord, see the eyes of children that open to life; see the eyes full of hope that open to your future and fill them with your light, we pray:
– Lord, see the eyes full of disappointment of those who are frustrated; see the joy in the eyes of those who know how to love, we pray:
– Lord, see the discouraged eyes of those who give up on life; see the fire in the eyes of those who continue the good fight, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Merciful and healing God,
through this bread and this wine,
we ask you to give us
the light of our lives,
your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through him, have pity on us,
and brighten our eyes with faith,
that we may praise you
for the saving goodness
that you show us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, in this Eucharist,
you have let us experience your goodness
through Jesus’ saving presence.
Do not allow us to hide his light
or to darken the lives of our neighbour.
Make us clear-eyed and let us be lights
for those without insight or hope.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
Sometimes, we see only dimly or not at all the good things God gives us and the good people he puts on our way. May we see them and may Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!