The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God is coming to save his people.
God is the one who fulfills his promise. “See I will bring them back…all of them, the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the woman in labour. They left in tears; I will comfort them and bring them back.” We often say “Jesus is our Saviour.” We need to ask what has He saved us from? What has He saved me from? If I am not aware of what he has saved me from, I cannot really call Jesus my Saviour. The reading also reminds us that Jesus has a special love and care for the handicapped, the suffering, those who are helpless, those who have no one to pay attention to them, those who no one can save.I bet you can see God out here!A man and his son went on a camping trip to the mountains. They hired an experienced guide, who brought them into the very heart of the great forest, and the beauty spots in the mountains that they themselves would never have found. The old guide was constantly pointing out the beauty and the wonders that the passer-by would never notice. The young lad was fascinated by the ability of the guide to see so much in all his surroundings. One day the lad was so impressed that he exclaimed “I bet you even see God out here.” The old guide smiled and replied “Son, as life goes on it’s getting more and more difficult for me to see anything but God out here.” ‘Lord that I might see...’
Jack McArdle from ‘And that’s the Gospel truth!’
The Gospel talks of Jesus meeting the blind man, Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside begging, who cries out “Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me”. What does this tell us? It reminds us that we have to raise our voice and call out to Jesus in faith and confidence. Perhaps there are times when we need to bear up what we are undergoing silently. But there are also times when we need to raise our voice in petition, and entreaty. We can only raise our voices imploring God to have mercy on us if we believe that He hears our prayer. The crowd shouts at him “Shut up and keep quiet!” Often when people call out for help other people ignore them or silence them. They want perhaps to get something from Jesus for themselves but they don’t want the blind man to get anything. What is the reaction of the blind beggar to the crowds? He shouted all the louder: “Son of David have pity on me.” Instead of being discouraged he puts extra effort in calling out to Jesus. We are people who let others govern our lives. Can we not persist in our efforts a little longer? The Blind man had called out to Jesus, now Jesus calls out to him. The moment Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is calling him, he throws off his cloak and goes to Jesus. Perhaps the blind beggar does not have much, surely the cloak was an important possession. Yet when he hears the call of Jesus he does not cling on to what he has, whatever may be an obstacle in his going to Jesus, nothing is more important than meeting Jesus. We too want to meet Jesus, we too call out to Jesus, but sometimes when he calls out to us we want to hold on to what we have, our cloak, our ways. Then Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus wants us to know what we truly desire, hence the question to the blind man. But the blind man only desires that his eyes be opened. The last verse of today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus told the man to go his way, but instead of going, the man who received his sight, now follows Jesus. His new sight helps him to follow Jesus.
Transforming Vision
The musical ‘Les Miserables’ is based on the epic novel by Victor Hugo and dramatizes the adventures of Jean Valjean. After serving nineteen years in prison for stealing some bread to help his sister’s starving child, Jean is paroled. Unable to find work, Valjean steals from a priest, who in turn lies to save him from being sent back to prison. Given a second chance, Jean Valjean undergoes a moral and social transformation: he takes a new name, becomes wealthy, befriends a dying prostitute, raises her orphan and twice risks everything he’s gained to save others. -What the Lord did through the priest for Valjean is similar to what he did for Bartimaeus. Both Valjean and Bartimaeus were nobodies –social outcasts, but when Jesus entered their lives, they became somebodies – his disciples. Many are the times Jesus stopped to take notice of us and to transform us. When we were nobodies, he made us somebodies. When we were spiritually sick, he made us whole. When we were down he lifted us up. Can we in turn stop more often to ask people: “What can I do for you? How can I be of help?”
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
Welcome, but you must let the soil go!
There was this blind man from the lovely island of Crete. He loved his land with a deep intensity, so much so that when he knew he was about to die he had his sons bring him outside and lay him on the ground. And as he was about to expire he reached down by his side and clutched some earth in his hands and died a happy man. He now appeared before heaven’s gates and God in the guise of an old, white-bearded man came out to meet him. “Welcome” he said, “you’ve been a good man, welcome into the joys of heaven.” But as the man was about to enter God said, “Please, you must let the soil go.” “Never” cried the old man stepping back. “Never!” And so God sadly departed leaving the man outside. A few eons passed and God came out again, this time in the guise of an old friend, an old drinking crony. They had a few drinks, told some stories and then God said, “All right, time to enter heaven, friend. Let’s go.” As they started for the pearly gates once more God requested the old man to let go of the soil and once again the old man refused. More eons rolled by and God came out again this time in the guise of the old man’s delightful and playful granddaughter. “Oh granddad,” she said, “you are so wonderful and we all miss you. Please come inside with me.” The old man nodded as she helped him up, for by this time he had grown very old indeed and very arthritic. In fact so arthritic was he that he had to prop up the right hand holding Crete’s soil with his left hand. They moved towards the pearly gates and at this point his strength gave out. His gnarled fingers would no longer stay clenched, with the result the soil sifted out between them until his hand was empty. Empty handed he entered heaven. The first thing he saw in heaven was his beloved land!
William Bausch in ‘Telling Stories, Compelling Stories’
The gift of sight
Helen Keller, who went blind and deaf at nineteen months, said: ‘One day I asked a friend of mine who had just returned from a long walk in the woods what she had seen. She replied, ‘Nothing in particular.’ ‘How was this possible?’ I asked myself, ‘when I, who cannot hear or see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate shape and design of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly over the rough bark of a pine tree. Occasionally, I place my hand quietly on a small tree, and if I’m lucky, feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. ‘The greatest calamity that can befall people, is not that they should be born blind, but that they should have eyes, yet fail to see.’
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sundays and Holy Day Liturgies’
Give sight to all who are blind!
There is a beautiful anecdote in the book, ‘When bad things happen to Good People,’ written by Harold S. Kushner. There were two storekeepers who were bitter rivals. Their stores were across the street from each other. They would spend each day sitting at the doorway keeping track of each other’s business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, “God has sent me to teach you a lesson. He will give you anything you ask for but I want you to know that whatever you get your competitor across the street will get twice as much. If you like to be wealthy, the man across the street will be twice as rich.” The man frowned for a moment and said, “All right, my request is, strike me blind in one eye, so that the man across would be blind in both eyes.” – While the man in this story was praying to become blind, Bartimaeus in today’s gospel was crying out to Jesus to be healed of his blindness.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
At last! At last!
Some years ago, there took place in England a most unusual wedding – a blind young man was to marry an extremely beautiful young lady. Very unfortunately, he had been blinded in an accident when he was just ten years old. But that did not deter him from going ahead and becoming an accomplished and successful university honour student. His name–William Dyke. It was at University that Bill met his bride-to-be, a young lady who was as beautiful as she was intelligent. So intense was their mutual love and so devoted their commitment that they decided to marry, even though Bill had a seemingly permanent and irreversible handicap. Shortly before the wedding, however, Bill met a very compassionate and highly skilled eye surgeon, one of Britain’s foremost, who voluntarily offered to operate on his eyes with a view to restoring his lost vision. And so, on the actual day of the wedding, the surgeon led the handsome groom to the altar with his eyes bandaged. As the bride approached her blindfolded groom the surgeon removed the bandages from Bill’s eyes. There were a few unsteady blinks as his eyes adjusted to the light around him. And then, for the first time, Bill looked into the beautiful face of his bride and was thrilled beyond words. Joyfully he exclaimed, “At last! At last!” Indeed his joy knew no bounds for he could actually see what, at one time, were no more than wishful thinking, even more an impossible dream.
James Valladares in ‘Your Words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and they Are Life’
******
An Indian sat silently wrapped in his blanket. The leader asked him what he thought of a particular point. No response; the man did not even look up. He asked again; again, there was no response. Again - and the man burst into tears. Eventually, comforted, he said, 'This is the first time in my life anyone has asked me what I think.' Then he proceeded to say what he thought for four hours." Report from a church meeting in Latin America
* making money and success the goals of our lives.
There came a time when we knew that we were blind,
but we felt that we could do nothing about it.
it was too late, people would never understand, we were too far gone.
But we shouted all the louder
until eventually the moment came, and we knew it,
so that we threw off all our fears, jumped up and went to Jesus.
It all happened so simply: we just asked to be able to see again
and immediately we saw clearly what we had to do,
and we followed you along the road.
We thank you for the deep conviction that the time of grace had come
for it was that conviction that saved us.
1: Blindfolded in the den of lion: In the
seven years that he was held hostage in Lebanon, Terry A. Anderson, Chief
Middle East Correspondent of the Associated Press, was physically and
psychologically abused, beaten, and tortured by his captors. Chained to a bed
or to the wall and stripped to his underwear, Anderson was kept blindfolded so
as not to be able to recognize his whereabouts or subsequently reveal the identities
of his guards. Deprived of physical sight and freedom, Anderson spent those
seven years engaged in a spiritual odyssey marked by an ever-deepening insight.
Blindfolded in darkness, he discovered the inner light of grace that enabled
him to look once again in Faith at God, to see himself in stark truthfulness
and humility, and even to look upon his captors with a sense of understanding.
His probing spiritual perception led Anderson to seek reconciliation with and
healing forgiveness from God. Through the ministry of Father Lawrence Jenco, a
fellow hostage, Anderson rediscovered his Faith. The following is Anderson’s
response to that occasion: Where is faith found? Not in a book or in a
church, not often or for everyone. In childish times, it’s easier; a child
believes just what it’s told. But children grow and soon begin to see too much
that doesn’t match the simple tales, and not enough of what’s behind their
parents’ words. There is no God, the cynics say; we made Him up out of our need
and fear of death. And happily, they offer up their test-tube proofs. A
mystery, the priests all say, and point to saints that prove their faith in
acts of love and sacrifice. But what of us who are not saints, only common
human sinners? And what of those who in their need and pain cry out to God and
go on suffering? I do not know — I wish I did. Sometimes I feel all the world’s
pain. I only say that once in my own need I felt a light and warm and loving
touch that eased my soul and banished doubt and let me go on to the end. It is
not proof — there can be none. Faith’s what you find when you’re alone and find
you’re not (Den of Lions, Memoirs of Seven Years, Crown
Publishers, Inc., New York: 1993). In today’s Gospel, another man, deprived of
physical sight invites the gathered assembly in this church to share in his
spiritual odyssey. We are often held hostage by our pride, fear, or
self-seeking or by the “blindfold” of indifference to the needs of others. With
Bartimaeus, let us pray for both freedom from spiritual blindness and growth in
faith, saying, “Lord, I want to see.” (Sanchez Archives). Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2: An ancient eye test for spiritual blindness: Fr.
De Mello tells a story which can help us to check our spiritual blindness. A
hermit asked his disciples: “When do you say that the night is ended, and it is
morning?” The first disciple said: “I say that it is morning when I can
distinguish an oak tree from a maple tree.” The hermit said: “No.” The second
disciple answered: “I know it is morning when I can distinguish a cow from a
sheep at a distance.” Once again, the hermit disagreed. The third disciple
replied, “It is morning when no star is visible in the cloudless sky.” “That is
also a wrong answer,” said the hermit. Then he explained:” I know it is morning
when I can recognize a person as a son or daughter of God, and, hence, my own
brother or sister.” Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3: Two famous prayers for spiritual vision: Cardinal
Newman prays for clear vision in his famous poem, “Lead Kindly Light”:
Lead, kindly Light,
amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
“Amazing Grace,” As the captain of a British slave
ship, John Newton regained his faith during a storm at sea and became an
ordained minister who was very active in the abolitionist movement. He explains
how he gained his spiritual eyesight in his famous hymn, Amazing Grace.
Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see.
4: Two Polish men were taking their first train trip to
Warsaw on the train. A vendor came down the corridor selling bananas which
they’d never seen before. Each bought a banana. The first man eagerly peeled
the banana and bit into it just as the train went into a dark tunnel. When the
train emerged from the tunnel, he looked across to his friend and said, “I
wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”
“Why not?” asked his friend. “Because it makes you temporarily blind.”
5: A motorist with poor eyesight was driving through a dense fog and was trying desperately to stay within range of the taillights of the car ahead of him. As he squinted and worried his way along, trying to stay on course with those taillights, the car in front suddenly stopped, and his car hit the car in the front. The driver of the rear car got out and demanded to know why the other driver came to such an abrupt stop. “I had to,” he replied, “I’m in my own garage!”
27 Additional anecdotes:
1) Blind police officer! An older woman came
home one day to find that her house had been broken into. She immediately
called the police and told them. The nearest officer to her house happened to
be a K-9 unit, so that officer was the one who responded to the call. The
officer drove up to the house and proceeded to let the dog out of the car. The
woman came running out of the house when she saw the police car, but stopped
when she saw the dog getting out. She threw up her hands and said, “Great. This
is just great. Not only have I been robbed, but now they send me a blind police
officer!” [Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO,
80651; 970-785-2990), March] — Being blind really isn’t a laughing matter. In
today’s Gospel episode, Bartimaeus was a real blind man whom Jesus healed. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) “I who am blind can give one hint to those who see”: Helen
Keller, so brave and inspiring to us in her deafness and blindness, once wrote
a magazine article entitled: “Three Days To See.” In that article she outlined
what things she would like to see if she were granted just three days of sight.
It was a powerful, thought-provoking article. On the first day, she said, she
wanted to see friends. Day two she would spend seeing nature. The third day she
would spend in her home city of New York, watching the busy city and the
workday of the present. She concluded it with these words: “I who am blind can
give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you were to be
stricken blind.” As bad as blindness is in the 20th century, however, it was
very much worse in Jesus’ day. Little wonder, then, that one of the signs of
the coming of the Messiah was that the blind should receive their sight! When Jesus
announced his Messianic mission, he said: “The spirit of the Lord is upon
me. He has sent me to proclaim … recovery of sight to the blind “(Luke 4: 18).
3) “Sit down at that table and write: ‘I will not
run red lights’ 500 times!” In the traffic court of a large
Midwestern City, a young lady was brought before the judge to answer for a
ticket given to her for running a red light. She explained to the judge that
she was a school teacher and requested an immediate disposal of her case so she
could get to school on time. All of a sudden the judge began grinning from
ear-to-ear. The judge said: “So, you’re a schoolteacher, huh? Well, Ma’am, I
finally get to realize one of my lifelong dreams. I’ve waited years for the
opportunity to have a schoolteacher in my court. Sit down at that table and
write: ‘I will not run red lights’ 500 times!” {Phillips, Bob, World’s
Greatest Collection of Clean Jokes, (Harvest House Publishers, Eugene,
Oregon 1998) p. 19.} –That joke, coupled with today’s Scripture, got me to thinking.
Is there something in your life that you’ve always wanted but still haven’t
realized yet? Do you have some unfulfilled dream or wish? Some longing that
you’ve never acted upon? Bartimaeus, the character in the Scripture for today,
certainly did. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “Free for what?” There is a
story, believed to be true, about Abraham Lincoln, just before the close of the
Civil War. Landowners in the Deep South were cutting their losses, liquidating
their slave-holdings before slavery was banned, and President Lincoln came upon
a slave auction in progress. A young girl was placed upon the auction block, in
front of all the bidders and gawkers. With defiance and disdain, the woman
scanned the crowd, daring someone to start the bidding. Lincoln did – and when
he won the bid and took possession of the young woman, she was belligerent.
“What are you going to do with me?” she asked. “I’m going to set you free,” the
president answered. “Set me free? What do you mean, ‘Set me free?’ Free for
what?” Abraham Lincoln said, “Free. Free to do what you want to do. Free to go
where you want to go.” The astonished woman replied, “Then I choose to go with
you.” — After a lifetime of yearning for freedom, the first thing this former
slave chooses to do when she becomes free is to yield herself back under the
authority of someone else. This is our call. You and I
are free; that’s what Jesus said. May we use our freedom to be His servants in
a dark and hurting world, and reflect His glorious light to remove the
spiritual blindness and darkness around us! May this begin today! Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) “One minute you’re with God in Heaven and the
next minute you’re in Georgia.“ Fred Craddock tells the story of
serving in an area where all the local pastors rotated turns as chaplain at the
small, thirty-bed area hospital. During one of his turns, a baby was born. He
went to the hospital and encountered a whole family of folks gathered around
the window of the nursery looking at the baby. He met the father who looked
sort of worried and anxious and dumbstruck all at the same time. — you know,
that “new father” look. The baby’s name was Elizabeth. As they looked at the
baby, she started to squirm and scream. The father looked worried, so Dr.
Craddock said something about the baby not being sick but just clearing out her
lungs like all newborns do. The father said, “Oh, I know she’s not sick. But
she’s mad as the devil.” That took Dr. Craddock back a little and he asked,
“Why’s she mad?” The father said, “Well, wouldn’t you be mad? One minute you’re
with God in Heaven, and the next minute you’re in Georgia!” Dr. Craddock asked,
“You believe she was with God before she came here?” The father said, “Oh,
yeah.” Then Craddock asked, “You think she’ll remember?” And he said, “Well,
that’s up to her mother and me. It’s up to the Church. We’ve got to see that
she remembers, ’cause if she forgets, she’s a goner.” [Craddock, Fred B. Craddock
Stories, (Chalice Press: St. Louis, MO, 2001) pp. 126-1.] — Bartimaeus
never forgot Whose he was or where he came from. Everyone else around him might
have forgotten and treated him like an outcast, but he knew he still belonged
to God. He remembered. Bartimaeus remembered, and because he remembered, he had
Faith enough to believe. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) She needed an immediate blood transfusion to
save her life. In 1949, a young soldier returned home from the war
to find his mother desperately ill with kidney problems. She needed an
immediate blood transfusion to save her life. Unfortunately, no one in the
family shared the mother’s very rare blood type of AB negative, and blood banks
didn’t exist in those days. The young soldier decided to gather his family
together to say goodbye to his mother. As he was driving home from the
hospital, he stopped to pick up another young soldier who was hitchhiking. The
hitchhiker noticed the young man’s tears and asked him what was wrong. The
young man blurted out the story of his dying mother. In silence, the hitchhiker
took off his dog tags and held them out to the young man. On the tags were
listed his blood type: AB negative. The mother received her transfusion that
night and recovered fully. She lived another 47 years after that fateful night.
— Coincidence? We don’t know. This soldier and his family think the hitchhiker
was an angel sent by God. All we know is that these coincidences happen quite
often for people of Faith. Jesus heals. He healed Bartimaeus and He has healed
millions of others–emotionally, spiritually, and, sometimes, physically. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) “There is one other thing,” the driver said:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, told a story on
himself. He was waiting for a taxi outside the railway station in Paris. When
the taxi pulled up, he put his suitcase in it and then got in the taxi. As he
was about to tell the taxi-driver where he wanted to go, the driver asked him:
“Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?” Doyle was astounded. He asked the driver if
he knew him by sight. The driver said: “No Sir, I have never seen you before.”
Doyle was puzzled and asked him how he knew he was Arthur Conan Doyle. The
driver replied: “This morning’s paper had a story that you were on vacation in
Marseilles. This is the taxi-stand where people who return from Marseilles
always wait. Your skin color tells me you have been on vacation. The ink-spot
on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer. Your clothing
is very English, and not French. Adding up all those pieces of information, I
deduce that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.” Doyle exclaimed, “This is truly
amazing. You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock
Holmes.” “There is one other thing,” the driver said. “What is that?’ Doyle
asked. “Your name is on the front of your suitcase.” [Parables, Etc. (Saratoga
Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), March.] — It wasn’t
the powers of deduction. It was the power of observation. That taxi driver’s
lenses were clean enough to observe what was going on around him. He had the
Proper Focus. The blind man in today’s Gospel had such a focus on Jesus as the
long-awaited Messiah and his only healer. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) Receiving begins with the courage to ask. In
1962, a 14‑year‑old boy by the name of Robert White wrote to President John F.
Kennedy’s personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, requesting the President’s
autograph. Within a few weeks Evelyn Lincoln honored the boy’s request by
sending him a facsimile of Kennedy’s signature in the mail. That began a
relationship of correspondence that lasted 33 years. Impressed with White’s
passion for presidential history, Mrs. Lincoln gave him thousands of documents
and mementos. She saved whatever could be saved (including even the doodles JFK
drew during meetings). Today, Robert White, now 51, boasts the largest private
collection of Kennedy memorabilia in the world, over 50,000 items. Receiving
begins with the courage to ask. (Spirit, November 1999. Cited by
Greg Asimakoupoulos in Leadership magazine). — “You have
not because you ask not”(Jas 4:2) It was Faith that caused Bartimaeus to
seek Jesus, and it was Faith that caused him to speak up and ask for help. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) Maybe he wept a few tears for joy. Mary
Hollingsworth in her book, Fireside Stories, tells a wonderful
story about a devoted follower of Christ in Romania named Richard Rumbren.
Rumbren was arrested by the Communists many years ago for believing in Jesus.
For fourteen years, he and some other Christians were kept in one little room
some thirty feet below the ground. And in all those years all they had was one
little light bulb. It was a horrible life. When he was finally released,
Richard wrote a book titled Tortured for Christ to relate what
he had gone through. And he began traveling about telling his story. But there
was a problem. Richard Rumbren could no longer stand up. His feet were so
damaged by torture that he had to sit down to speak. After the Wall came down
in 1992, Rumbren got to go back to Romania. And they took him to show him the
very first Christian bookstore in that nation. They were giving him the tour
and showing him the books. Then the owner said, “Come down stairs and see all
the wonderful things we have in the warehouse.” So Richard and his elderly wife
went down the stairs, and when they got to the room, Richard was shocked. Then
everyone was startled when Rumbren, this old man with battered feet, started
dancing across the room. “Richard, what’s gotten into you?” asked the owner.
But Rumbren just started laughing and said, “This is the room they kept me in
for fourteen years!” — No wonder Richard Rumbren was dancing! This was a place
and an occasion of great significance for him. I wonder if Bartimaeus, the
beggar who once stationed himself to receive alms just outside Jericho, ever
returned to the place where he first regained his sight. If he did, I wonder if
he danced a little jig. Maybe he wept a few tears for joy. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) “This I did for you; what are you doing for
me?” In the 1700’s there was a rather remarkable change in the
life of an Austrian Count named Nikolaus Zinzendorf. Born into the nobility,
Zinzendorf had recently completed his training in law, and was sent off to complete
his education by touring the European cities. In an art gallery in Düsseldorf
he came upon a masterly painting of Jesus. The eyes of Jesus seemed to
penetrate the Count’s heart. Beneath the painting were these words: “This
I did for you; what are you doing for me?” Count Zinzendorf was never able
to forget those haunting words. Within a just a couple of years he retreated
from public life to devote himself to a Christian community he had started for
religious fugitives from Moravia. It was Zinzendorf’s writings and the
Moravians themselves that influenced the reformer John Wesley to become a
Christian leader. All because this Spiritual Insight had been awakened in him.
That kind of Spiritual Insight is called Faith. [The Autoillustrator,
P.O. Box 336517, Greeley, CO 80633 1-877-970-AUTO (2886).] — Bartimaeus
in today’s Gospel had it. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) “And then that stupid letter arrived.” Two
psychiatrists were talking and one asked the other, “What was your most
difficult case?” His colleague answered, “Once I had a patient who lived in a
pure fantasy world. He believed that a wildly rich uncle in South America was
going to leave him a fortune. All day long he waited for a make-believe letter
to arrive from a fictitious attorney. He never went out or did anything. He
just sat around and waited.” “What was the result?” asked the first
psychiatrist. “Well, it was an eight-year struggle but I finally cured him. And
then that stupid letter arrived…” (2) — Some people are afraid to Open Their
Eyes. And some just keep their eyes closed no matter what. Sometimes we don’t
Open Our Eyes because we’re afraid we’ll be disappointed in what we see.
Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel was able to see his Healer by the power of his
Faith. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) “Do you see what I see?” In our
parish office there hangs a modernistic picture composed of a maze of colors
and shapes. I know these sophisticated, modern, and abstract pictures are
supposed to contain some profound artistic or philosophical message, but I have
never been able to figure it out. It just looks like a jumbled mass of
confusion. If there is a message there, I am blind to it. One day while I was
standing in the office, waiting for the copier to warm up, one of the parents
came to the office with her kindergarten-age boy, Adam. After greeting me he
looked at the picture for a minute and said to me, “Do you see what I see?” I
said, “Do you see something in that picture? I sure don’t.” Adam looked at me
with glee in his eye, “Father, can’t you see him? It’s Jesus hanging on the
cross.” I stared as hard as I could, until my eyes actually hurt from staring.
I wanted to believe Adam, that there actually was the image of Jesus hanging on
the cross hidden somewhere in that mass of color and shapes, but I couldn’t see
Jesus anywhere. “Adam, I’m sorry but I must be blind. You will have to help me
see.” Directing his finger to a mass of color in the center of the picture,
Adam said, “There, Father. Do you see what I see? There is Jesus, his face, his
arms outstretched on the cross.” And then, like an epiphany, the image began to
appear. Yes, there hidden somehow “behind” the colors and the shapes was the
barely visible image of Jesus, hanging with arms outstretched on the cross.
“It’s amazing, Adam. You have helped one blind pastor to see Jesus. Yes, I can
see what you see, Adam.” — A similar epiphany happens in today’s Gospel. Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “I beat the Nazis, I beat them. I got my
house.” Carlton Fletcher tells about his Uncle Walter who lived in
Waldorf, Germany, during the Second World War. Uncle Walter was the descendant
of Huguenots who had run away from France during the persecution of the
Protestants in the 1600’s. During the war, he wanted to build himself a house,
but all the necessary materials were reserved for the army. You couldn’t build
a house for yourself. To a member of Germany’s middleclass, a house is most
important. Building a house and getting out of an apartment is a priority. And
nothing. not even a world war, would deter Uncle Walter, even if it meant
building a house and hiding it under a junk pile. Here is how he did it. He
bought a lot and loaned it out for people to throw junk on it. And then he
would go there at night and build, layer by layer of brick, and cover it up
with junk. When the end of the war came, there was a big pile of junk, but
there was a house under it practically completed. All it needed was a roof. In
1946, when the war was over, he raised the roof like a madman. And he was
jubilant. He said, “I beat the Nazis, I beat them. I got my house.” [A
Celebration of American Folklore, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1982).] —
Don’t you admire the spirit of a man like that, to be able to build a house
amid the rubble of life? I suspect Bartimaeus was such a man. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) “We have a clerk’s job waiting for you .
Norman Vincent Peale in one of his books tells about a young man named Walter
Harter. Walter was a rather average young man with a slight limp who grew up in
a farming community. Denied the opportunity for a college education due to his
family’s financial circumstances, he set his heart on working in New York City.
He went to the local telephone company and borrowed the New York City telephone
directory. He looked up the listings of various stores in that great
metropolis. Then he decided to concentrate on a well-known chain that had 393
stores in the New York City metropolitan area. He decided to write each of them
by hand asking for a position. That was quite a project for a teenager with
limited time and resources. He wrote fifteen a day. And he stuck to it day
after day without a single reply. Finally, after writing them every one with
absolutely no response, he scraped up a few dollars and headed for the big
city. The first store he visited was a large one on Times Square. After
listening to his story, the manager said to him that even if they had received
his letter they would have sent it on to the personnel department of the chain.
Walter didn’t even know what a personnel department was, but he followed the
manager’s directions to a large building on Park Avenue. There he was taken to
a stern-faced man sitting behind a large desk. This man seemed to be in charge
of everything. After telling his story once more, Walter waited as the man
behind the desk stared at him for what seemed like the longest time. Then the
man smiled and rose to his feet. He pointed to a table holding stacks of
letters. “Your applications are here,” he said, “all three hundred and
ninety-three of them! We knew that someday you would walk in here. We have a
clerk’s job waiting for you. You can start this afternoon.” [Norman Vincent
Peale, Power of the Plus Factor (New York: Fawcett Crest,
1987).]
— Bartimaeus had that same determined spirit. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) “I bet you can see God out here!” A man and
his son went on a camping trip to the mountains. They hired an experienced
guide, who brought them into the very heart of the great forest, and the beauty
spots in the mountains that they themselves would never have found. The old
guide was constantly pointing out the beauty and the wonders that the passer-by
would never notice. The young lad was fascinated by the ability of the guide to
see so much in all his surroundings. One day the lad was so impressed that he
exclaimed “I bet you even see God out here.” The old guide smiled and replied
“Son, as life goes on it’s getting more and more difficult for me to see
anything but God out here.” ‘Lord that I might see…’(Jack McArdle from And
That’s the Gospel Truth! Quoted by Fr. Botelho). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Transforming Vision: The
musical Les Miserables is based on the epic novel by Victor
Hugo and dramatizes the adventures of Jean Valjean. After serving nineteen
years in prison for stealing some bread to help his sister’s starving child,
Jean is paroled. Unable to find work, Valjean steals from a priest, who in turn
lies to save him from being sent back to prison. Given a second chance, Jean
Valjean undergoes a moral and social transformation: he takes a new name,
becomes wealthy, befriends a dying prostitute, raises her orphan and twice
risks everything he’s gained to save others. — What the Lord did through the
priest for Valjean is similar to what he did for Bartimaeus. Both Valjean and
Bartimaeus were nobodies, social outcasts, but when Jesus entered their lives,
they became somebodies, Jesus’ disciples. Many are the times Jesus has
stopped to take notice of us and to transform us. When we were nobodies, Jesus
made us somebodies. When we were spiritually sick, Jesus made us whole. When we
were down Jesus lifted us up. Can we in turn stop more often to ask people:
“What can I do for you? How can I be of help?” (Albert Cylwicki
in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) The gift of sight: Helen Keller,
who went blind and deaf at nineteen months, said: “One day I asked a friend of
mine who had just returned from a long walk in the woods what she had seen. She
replied, ‘Nothing in particular.’ ‘How was this possible?’ I asked myself,
‘when I, who cannot hear or see, find hundreds of things to interest me through
mere touch. I feel the delicate shape and design of a leaf. I pass my hands
lovingly over the rough bark of a pine tree. Occasionally, I place my hand
quietly on a small tree, and if I’m lucky, feel the happy quiver of a bird in
full song.’ The greatest calamity that can befall people, is not that they
should be born blind, but that they should have eyes, yet fail to see.” (Flor
McCarthy in New Sundays and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). Fr.
Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) Give sight to all who are blind! There
is a beautiful anecdote in the book, When Bad Things Happen to Good
People, written by Harold S. Kushner. There were two
storekeepers who were bitter rivals. Their stores were across the street from
each other. They would spend each day sitting at the doorway keeping track of
each other’s business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his
rival. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and
said, “God has sent me to teach you a lesson. He will give you anything you ask
for but I want you to know that whatever you get, your competitor across the
street will get twice as much. If you’d like to be wealthy, the man across the
street will be twice as rich.” The man frowned for a moment and said, “All
right, my request is, strike me blind in one eye, so that the man across will
be blind in both eyes.” — While the man in this story was praying to become
blind, Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel was crying out to Jesus to be
healed of his blindness. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by
Fr. Botelho). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) “At last! At last!” Some years
ago, there took place in England a most unusual wedding – a blind young man was
to marry an extremely beautiful young lady. Very unfortunately, he had been
blinded in an accident when he was just ten years old. But that did not deter
him from going ahead and becoming an accomplished and successful university
honour student. His name–William Dyke. It was at University that Bill met his
bride-to-be, a young lady who was as beautiful as she was intelligent. So
intense was their mutual love and so devoted their commitment that they decided
to marry, even though Bill had a seemingly permanent and irreversible handicap.
Shortly before the wedding, however, Bill met a very compassionate and highly
skilled eye surgeon, one of Britain’s foremost, who voluntarily offered to
operate on his eyes with a view to restoring his lost vision. And so, on the
actual day of the wedding, the surgeon led the handsome groom to the altar with
his eyes bandaged. As the bride approached her blindfolded groom the surgeon
removed the bandages from Bill’s eyes. There were a few unsteady blinks as his
eyes adjusted to the light around him. And then, for the first time, Bill
looked into the beautiful face of his bride and was thrilled beyond words.
Joyfully he exclaimed, “At last! At last!” — Indeed his joy knew no bounds for
he could actually see what, at one time, were no more than wishful thinking,
even more an impossible dream. No wonder, Bartimaeus decided to follow Jesus as
an act of thanksgiving as soon as he got his eye-sight. (James Valladares in
Your Words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They Are Life; quoted by Fr.
Botelho). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
20) Some People Are Never Satisfied: It is like the beggar in the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Brian and his mother are walking through town and get hit up by a beggar. “Alms for an ex-leper. Alms for an ex-leper, please.” And Brian says: “What do you mean an ex-leper?” And the leper says: “Well I was cured” “Who cured you?” Brian says. And the leper says: “That Jesus fellow.” He says: “Now I have a hard time making a living! All I’ve ever known how to do is beg.” And Brian says: “Well why don’t you go back and ask Him to make you a leper again?” And the leper says: “Well, I might not like that. Maybe He could just make me a leper during working hours or something.” So Brian just sighs, drops a coin into his cup and walks away. And the ex-leper looks into his cup and says: “A half a dinari! Look at this – he only gives me a half a dinari!” And Brian says: “Some people are never satisfied.” To which the leper replies: “That’s just what Jesus said!” — Now Monty Python might be on to something. Jesus may not have said exactly these words but he certainly ran into people who were unappreciative. Blind Bartimaeus was not one of them. Upon receiving his sight he immediately began to follow. (Rev. Brett Blair) Fr. Kayala. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
21) Napoleon meeting Tsar Alexander I: History
records a time when two people met each other on July 25, 1807, at a spot in
the Tilsit River in Prussia. It was a dramatic meeting to discuss matters which
carried serious consequences. In the middle of that stream Napoleon and
Alexander I held a much-publicized private conference. It was widely described
in advance as a meeting which would “arrange the destinies of humankind.”
Cannons boomed, and the shouts of thousands of soldiers gathered on each side
of the river added to the noise as the conference began. There the Treaty of
Tilsit was drawn up which allied Russia and Prussia with Napoleon. World
history and millions of lives were forever changed. — Bartimaeus had an
opportunity to meet Christ, one-on- one, and took advantage of it. As a result,
he was greatly blessed. You and I have the same privilege of meeting with
Christ, one-on- one. Christ is calling you. Will you come? Such an encounter,
for each one of us, is by far the most important in our lives, for it will
arrange the destiny of our lives. (Rev. Brett Blair) Fr. Kayala (http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/treaty-tilsit).
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) “I wish to be able to see my children eat off gold
plates.” According to a Jewish legend there was once
a blind man who was married but had no children. Although his life
was hard, he never complained. One day as the blind man was sitting
by a river, the prophet Elijah came to him from Heaven and said, “Even though
your life has been hard, you never complained, and so God will grant you one
wish.” The poor man frowned. “Only one wish!” he
said. “I’m blind, I’m poor, and I’m childless. How will just one
wish can satisfy all my problems? But give me twenty-four hours and I’ll
think up a wish.” He went home and told his wife what had happened.
She smiled at him and said, “Eat well and sleep soundly, for I know what you
should wish.” He came back the next morning and said to Elijah as he
appeared again, “I wish to be able to see my children eat from gold
plates.” The wish was granted, and the man and his wife lived happily for
the rest of their days. — Today’s Gospel presents another blind man whose
wish was to regain his sight. Jesus restored sight to his eyes and to his
spirit, and Bartimaeus immediately began to follow Jesus as a sighted,
witnessing disciple. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
23) I Wanted to See Jesus Today by
Maria Carey: I wanted to see Jesus today. I saw the
old man instead, standing by the pump at the gas station. We said hello to each
other as we shared our smiles and left on our way. I wanted to see Jesus
today. I saw the most delightful little child with his mother, and she
was so sweet to him at the Wal-Mart. I smiled at each, and the little fella
reached out to touch my arm and my heart as I said, “Hello, little one.” He
laughingly, fled away. I stood there smiling and beaming from the purest and
sweetest touch of innocence. I wanted to see Jesus today. I saw the
old lady, a bent figure with curved spine holding two very heavy shopping bags.
She looked so tired. I watched as she tried to cross the street. I was afraid
she wouldn’t make it as I said, “Let me carry those things for you” and she
did. We made it across the street and I carried those bags up 3 full blocks
right to her doorstep. She thanked me and I felt so good. I wanted to
see Jesus today. I saw the man at the train station, he asked for spare
change and I looked at him. Without thought of what he would do with the
change, I gave it to him. I did so with a prayer and blessing. Then I left and
caught the train home. You see I really wanted to see Jesus today and He really
wanted to see me too. It was then that I realized that we had seen each other
all throughout the day. He was inside a different shell each time that I saw
Him but it was He. His face and expressions would be different each time but He
was always the same. He wanted to see me and know what I would do each time
that I met Him. You see I really did want to see Jesus today and I did see Him
clearly all the daylong. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
24) A priest forever: Monsignor
Patrick J. McGee was for years pastor of St. Mary’s Church, North Attleboro,
Massachusetts. Although he was widely referred to (at least behind his back) as
“Paddy McGee”, this priest of the Diocese of Fall River was truly venerated for
his gentle pastoral way. He looked venerable too. Eighty summers had shrunken
his body but not his spirit, and the pure white hair that fringed his bald head
only accentuated his tranquil blue eyes. In 1949, however, after almost sixty
years in the priesthood, Paddy began to fail. He was obliged to give up his
active parish work and was finally confined to a bed from which he would never
again rise. His two devoted curates were saddened to see him slip in and out of
unconsciousness. He did not appear to be suffering much, but they knew the end
was not far off. Then, as the two assistants were watching at the bedside,
Father McGee suddenly sat bolt upright in bed. He blessed himself slowly and
devoutly and started the old Latin prayers that priests used to recite at the
beginning of Mass. Automatically, the priests answered with the Latin
responses. He went on from that point, his lips moving in silent prayer
according to the order of the Mass. After a while he raised his joined hands as
if he were lifting the consecrated Host. At that point, however, his strength
failed and his head fell forward. One of the curates gently helped him to lie
back upon the pillow. “Give me Holy Communion,” he murmured. But it was too
late. He fell senseless again and died shortly afterward. — Today’s second
reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews, speaks of the priesthood of Christ.
Jesus was not a priest according to the traditional Old Testament priesthood of
Aaron. His Father had conferred on Him the special priesthood as the Psalmist foretold:
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.” In the Book
of Genesis, Melchisedech the priest-king had offered a sacrifice not of animals
but of bread and wine. It was this irrevocable new priesthood that Jesus
bestowed on his apostles, and they passed it on to all later Christian priests.
Father Patrick McGee had been called by God to be a forever priest of this
order. He passed into eternity offering Christ to God. (Father Robert F.
McNamara). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
25) Sight regained: Here’s a true story: One day a man woke up to find that, according to the local newspaper, he had died. Actually, the man’s older brother died, but the editors ran the wrong obituary. The man read on, fascinated to have the unique opportunity to find out what others thought of him. But what he read made him shudder. The writer of the obituary reported the passing of a “great industrialist” who had amassed a considerable fortune from manufacturing weapons of destruction – dynamite, to be precise. His reputation as a heartless employer and ruthless businessman was also chronicled. The newspaper ended its story calling him a “merchant of death.” The man was stunned. This was not how he wanted to be remembered. And so from that moment on, he devoted his time and fortune to works of philanthropy, justice and peace. Today, the man who had “died” in an erroneous newspaper story is not remembered as the inventor of dynamite, but as the founder of the prestigious Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel later would say, “Everyone ought to have the chance to correct his/her epitaph in midstream and write a new one.” And when Alfred Nobel actually died, in 1896, his obituary hailed him as “a humanitarian and a visionary.” (Fr. Lakra.) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
26) I do not want the eyes of my child who is
about to be born to see the crucified Christ.” This happened before
the beginning of the Second World War. A man took his wife who was closed to
giving birth to a Catholic Hospital. In front of the woman was a crucifix
hanging on the wall of her room. The man who was an unbeliever said to the
nurse: “Take that Christ away. I do not want the eyes of my child who is about
to be born to see Christ.” The baby was born that same night and in the morning
the atheist father asked the nurse: “How is my son?” “He is fine,” replied the
nurse, “but he will never see Christ.” “Such is my wish,” said the father. The
nurse remarked: “That is very wicked wish but it has been answered, the child
was born blind.” (Fr. Benitez). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
27) Greek’s criterion of winning the race: Among the ancient Greek people the runner that won the race was not the man who crossed the line in the shortest time, but the man who crossed it in the least time with his torch still burning. — We are so busy with life’s activities that we are in danger of allowing the torch of our spiritual life to become extinguished. It was when Moses paused in his going that he heard the voice of God. Today’s Gospel presents a blind man who not only received the light but also kept the light burning brightly for the rest of his life by following Jesus. The minute Jesus restored sight to his eyes and to his spirit, Bartimaeus immediately began to follow Jesus as a sighted, witnessing disciple. Opening the eyes of the blind was prophesied as one of the works of the Messiah: “The eyes of the blind will see” (Is 29:18; see also 32:3). In fact, in the very next scene Jesus is being proclaimed by the crowds as Messiah.(Fr. Jolly) Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).
From Sermons.com:
7) As bad as blindness is in the 21st century, however, it was so much worse in Jesus' day. Today a blind person at least has the hope of living a useful life with proper training. Some of the most skilled and creative people in our society are blind. But in first century Palestine blindness meant that you would be subjected to abject poverty. You would be reduced to begging for a living. You lived at the mercy and the generosity of others. Unless your particular kind of blindness was self-correcting, there was no hope whatsoever for a cure. The skills that were necessary were still centuries beyond the medical knowledge of the day. Little wonder then that one of the signs of the coming of the Messiah was that the blind should receive their sight...
Terri ran as fast as she could into the flaming house only to find her baby brother trapped by a burning rafter which had fallen and pinned him to the floor. Hurriedly, Terri worked to free her brother. She had trouble getting him loose as the flames were dancing around their heads. Finally, she freed him. She picked him up and quickly took him outside and revived him just as the roof of the house caved in.
By this time, firemen were on the scene and the neighbours had gathered outside the smouldering remains of the house. The neighbours had been too frightened to go inside or to do anything to help, and they were tremendously impressed with the courage of the twelve-year old girl. They congratulated her for her heroic efforts and said, "Terri, you are so very brave. Weren't you scared? What were you thinking about when you ran into the burning house?" I love Terri's answer. She said, "I wasn't thinking about anything. I just heard my little brother crying."
Let me ask you something? How long has it been? How long has it been since you heard your brother or sister crying? How long has it been since you stopped and did something about it?
James W. Moore, Collected Sermons,
Two psychiatrists were talking and one asked the other, "What was your most difficult case?"
His colleague answered, "Once I had a patient who lived in a pure fantasy world. He believed that a wildly rich uncle in South America was going to leave him a fortune. All day long he waited for a make-believe letter to arrive from a fictitious attorney. He never went out or did anything. He just sat around and waited."
"What was the result?" asked the first psychiatrist.
"Well, it was an eight-year struggle but I finally cured him. And then that stupid letter arrived..."
Some people are afraid to open their eyes. And some just keep their eyes closed no matter what.
Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit
The woman used these two images together to prayerfully imagine Jesus inviting her to take his yoke of love, in exchange for the heavy load of grief, loss, and doubt that she carried. She pictured releasing the pain she carried, which was placed by Jesus on the back of the young colt in exchange for the yoke of spreading the message of Christ's love in word and action.
Suzanne Watson
Many unhappy people cannot put their finger on what is really causing their distress. Many unfulfilled people cannot even tell you what it would take to satisfy them. Many of us have no clear idea or conception what our real needs, our real desires, and our real priorities are. And because we have never defined the problem or clarified our goals, we spend a lifetime anxiously wandering with very little to show for the pilgrimage.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons,
________________________
In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing.
Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviors--were still those of a blind man.
Dr. Sacks asserts, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo . . . that is so terrible."
To truly see Jesus and his truth means more than observing what he did or said, it means a change of identity.
Terry Seufferlein Norman, Oklahoma.
In his brilliant new book, Catching the Light, quantum physicist Arthur Zojanc writes of what he describes as the "entwined history of light and mind" (correctly described by one admirer as the "two ultimate metaphors of the human spirit"). For our purposes, his initial chapter is most helpful.
From both the animal and human studies, we know there are critical developmental "windows" in the first years of life. Sensory and motor shills are formed, and if this early opportunity is lost, trying to play catch up is hugely frustrating and mostly unsuccessful.
Prof. Zajoc writes of studies which investigated recovery from congenital blindness. Thanks to cornea transplants, people who had been blind from birth would suddenly have functional use of their eyes. Nevertheless, success was rare. Referring to one young boy, "the world does not appear to the patient as filled with the gifts of intelligible light, color, and shape upon awakening from surgery," Zajoc observes. Light and eyes were not enough to grant the patient sight. "The light of day beckoned, but no light of mind replied within the boy's anxious, open eyes."
Zajoc quotes from a study by a Dr. Moreau who observed that while surgery gave the patient the "power to see," "the employment of this power, which as a whole constitutes the act of seeing, still has to be acquired from the beginning." Dr. Moreau concludes, "To give back sight to a congenitally blind person is more the work of an educator than of a surgeon." To which Zajoc adds, "The sober truth remains that vision requires far more than a functioning physical organ. Without an inner light, without a formative visual imagination, we are blind," he explains. That "inner light" -- the light of the mind -- "must flow into and marry with the light of nature to bring forth a world."
National Right to Life News, March 30, 1993, p. 22.
On November 30, 1991 fierce winds from a freakish dust storm triggered a massive freeway pileup along Interstate 5 near Coalinga, California. At least 14 people died and dozens more were injured as topsoil whipped by 50 mile-per-hour winds reduced visibility to zero. The afternoon holocaust left a three-mile trail of twisted and burning vehicles, some stacked on top of one another 100 yards off the side of the freeway. Unable to see their way, dozens of motorists drove blindly ahead into disaster.
Today in the Word, August 16, 1992.
The famous agnostic Thomas Huxley was once lovingly confronted by a very sincere Christian. This believer stressed to Huxley that he was not in any way impugning Huxley's sincerity. Nevertheless, might it not be possible that mentally the great scientist was color blind? That is, some people cannot see traces of green where other people cannot help but see it. Could it be that this was Huxley's problem--that he was simply blind to truth that was quite evident to others? Huxley, being a man of integrity, admitted that this was possible, and added that if it were, he himself, of course, could not know or recognize it.
Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8, p. 708.
For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see. A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow," he exclaimed. "I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can't believe red. I can see the shape of the moon--and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is."
Max Lucado, God Came Near, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 13.
At the very time Stalin was liquidating millions, the Rev. Hewlett Johnson of Canterbury spoke of him as bringing in the kingdom of Christ.
Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Eighties, Harper and Row, 1983.
The captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent the multi-layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren't summoned until it was too late.
Leadership, Vol. X, No.3, Summer, 1989, p. 27.
