How Can We Really See?

Thursday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time

Sirach 42: 15-25; Mark 10: 46-52

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

Ah, if only we could see.

Sirach first says that he will “recall God’s works- what I have seen.”  And then proceeds to describe how God’s word, once spoken, just happens, and fulfills that word.  Then he gives a summary of the wonders of creation that followed, and the depths of the understanding and wisdom of God.  He also says that the Most High “sees from of old the things that are to come”.  Just imagine that, the ability to see the future.  And so, God sees and understands all things and has offered to share that understanding and wisdom with all of us through the Spirit- the Spirit which was his recent gift to all of us at Pentecost.  It is that Spirit which motivates us to understand and do God’s will.  In other words, it is the Spirit that enables us to see, to really see.

In the Gospel, Bartimaeus cries out in hope to Jesus.  And when Jesus calls him forward, he throws off his cloak- his one prized possession.  You see, that cloak was his protection against the wind and rain and the elements; his sleeping bag and a symbol of security.  But he throws off that cloak, and walks away from it.  It is almost as if he is turning his back on the past.  And he goes towards Jesus, not only blind, but in blind trust.  Such faith.  And Jesus gives him sight in reward for that faith.

The question is, what did he see when he was gifted with sight.  Did he just see the world as most of us gifted with sight from birth do?  Or did he see things in the light of the Spirit as Sirach describes?  We do know that Bartimaeus “followed him on the way”, so it would appear that Bartimaeus saw something more than just the beauty of creation.

How about you and I?  Are we blinded by the real message of God and the Gospel by the clutter of life and all the things of the world?  Or do we see through the lens of the Spirit we received at Pentecost- a Spirit of wisdom and understanding of the will of God for us.

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