SUNDAY OF THE BLIND
Lord open our eyes; that we can see you approaching us in the need of others
Lord open our ears; that we can hear you call out onto us in the grief of others
Lord open our hearts; that we can respond to you in the anguish of others
Lord command us to leap from our comforts; that we may aid those who are hopeless
There comes a point in the life of a true presbyter and Christian that we begin to question NOT the CHURCH as the divine institution/hospital and mystical body, but those who cling to it for the sake of prestige, power and ambition – spiritually dead people who render the life of others as a living hell!
This weekend, I was not sure of what to write, where to start, and quite frankly ‘should I even bother?’ It’s all way too nice that we come to church, listen to grand and well prepared sermons that incorporate all those nice things we want to hear, but does it change us? Does it change the life of the one who delivers the sermon?
Have we truly understood what we are supposed to be doing? Although we constantly raise the banners of what our little clubs and societies want us to be, when are we truly going to live by the faith of those who wholeheartedly spilt their blood for the head of our supposed body the Church: Christ???
The last few weeks I have been in and out of hospitals visiting the sick and not just going through the prescribed rituals but actually making time for the people I go and see and also sitting down with their close relatives. To be honest, all this NICE talk and appearance we tend to pedal does no one any good – it backfires on us and people can see through it!
We are living in an ever Atheistic becoming society and quite frankly, we are giving them ammunition by the way we carry on; this is not good enough and we haven’t learnt from former persecutions especially the great martyrs under Communist and Islamic regimes. Will a repeat be enough to wake us up???
Having stated thus, I went to see a patient who is not of my fold but I tend to all in need, he was walking with his wife and all of the sudden became dizzy and collapsed on the footpath hitting his head. When I went to anoint him, his wife was calling out to him: “Please wake up! Please don’t leave me here all alone! Please don’t do this to me!” All I could to was to hug her and let her cry over my shoulder and tend to her bleeding heart.
She was in so much pain and distress over the fact that the doctors could not wake him up – the love of her life had withdrawn in his mind as he lay in his hospital bed. In such instances the presbyter must use common sense and pastoral awareness, thus, I asked her to take her husbands’ hand whilst I took the other and we prayed the Lord’s Prayer and prayer to the Mother of God. At this I anointed him and also anointed her forehead and pleaded onto the Lord to show his mercy. Within five minutes he opened his eyes and began to slowly communicate.
I’m no saint, I’m as holy as a block of Swiss Cheese; but one thing is for sure, if your heart is in the right place and you go out of your way and love the people the Lord gives you and that may even be by just randomly meeting or overhearing – It’s when your heart is moved to compassion that the Lord comes in your midst and his Spirit takes over and does what is necessary!
Then the man who Jesus gave life to his eyes bowed down and worshiped him saying: “I believe you are Lord!”
It is interesting to note that when Jesus spat on the ground to form clay – the original translation is that he formed out of clay eye balls for the lad was not only blind but was born with no eyes. He did this so that we may know that Jesus is the Father Pantocrator and all is possible for him if we ask in faith and wholeheartedly respond by doing his will and helping others to see him with the actions that stem from our hearts and minds!
The next time we utter the Lord’s Prayer and bow down and worship him we should ask ourselves: Thy will be done, or I want you to curb your will according to mine? The next time we bow down at the altar when offering the Divine Mysteries or in prayer, we should think to ourselves, am I humbling myself before God so others may be lead to believe how good and holy I am, or will I truly have an authentic Metanoia (transformation of heart) where I begin to see my stupidities and actually learn to be the least among others and servant of God’s servants???
“I must render the will of the Father with the work of my hands and desire of my heart whilst it is still day; the night hastily approaches in which the work will cease. I came to give light to this darkened world for I am the Light which shone at the first dawn.” (Jn 9: 4-5)
Comments