“Lord, please help me to see” (Luke 18:41). Those words spoken by the blind man to Jesus are a prayer, an attitude, and a recognition that we need Jesus, particularly when we’re discouraged, lost, or confused. Jesus responds to this man, saying, “Have sight; your faith has saved you” (Luke 18:42). In those seven words, Jesus concisely teaches us about the need for faith (in God) and its role in our ability to see what we need to do and where we’re going so that we make it to heaven.
Most of us are blessed to have functional eyesight. But whether it’s a darkened or foggy road, we often strain to see the twists and turns of that road, especially as we get older and our vision declines. As we know, there are different times when our families and we travel down those challenging roads, looking for answers and trying to do what is right but straining to see the right path.
In addition, our headlights might dim, or their plastic lens covers can become clouded, reducing the brightness of the headlights. We can even have one headlight out, like I did last week, and not know it until a good Samaritan lets us know. Our spiritual headlights dim at times due to distancing ourselves from God, sometimes without even intending to, or at times due to falling into sin, clouding our vision. Like my car story, there are times when we need a good Samaritan, a family member, or a friend to help us see our faults so that we can change.
You know, often, our eyesight declines gradually, making it harder to perceive; this can be the same with our faith for all sorts of reasons. Likewise, these past several years, with all the restrictions due to the pandemic and other reasons, have caused many people to get out of the practices of:
- Faithful attendance at Sunday Mass
- Regularly seeking forgiveness from God in Confession
- Having children baptized or receiving their first Holy Communion; and/or
- Attending religious education.
In all these sacred moments, we need to remember these instruments of our salvation and instruction; we encounter the same Jesus that the man who was blind called out to.
My brothers and sisters, we have the cure for our spiritual blindness if only we can have the faith of that man who called out, “Lord, please help me to see.” And make those words our prayer each day! “Lord, please help us to see!”
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