Reflection: I Want to See

By Fr. Mike Boutin

Throwing his cloak aside, Bartimaeus jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

Listen to Jesse Manibusan singing "Open My Eyes, Lord."

What must it be like to be born blind?  I don't mean being able to see one day, and then losing your sight the next, so that at least you have the eyes of your memory with which to see. I mean being born blind, so that you have never seen anything....and you don't even understand what it means to see or not to see. What do you "see" in that darkened world? How do you experience life?

So when Jesus asks Bartimaeus what He could do for him, Bartimaeus answered simply: "Lord, I want to see..."

"I want to see what I look like....I want to see the sun rise....I want to see a flower on the vine....I want to see the lake of Galilee lapping at the shore, and fishermen bringing in the day's catch...I want to see the laughter of my daughter, her hair glistening in the sun, skipping along the road...I want to see my wife's beautiful face, and the gentle curve of her back,  the one my fingers have traced all these years...I want to see her smile at me, and know that I am loved...Lord, I want to see you...."

And in a moment, Bartimaeus did. He saw the Lord Jesus standing before him. The one who gave him sight was now the One he could see....and everything was changed.

Darkness became light. And in the light, Bartimaeus knew the Light, and in that moment, followed Him.

Just because I wasn't born blind, sometimes, that seems how I live my life...in the darkness....

Lord, I want to see....I want to follow you....open my eyes, Lord, help me to see. 

Now pray.....

 

Father Mike Boutin is the co-pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Walpole, MA, and travels widely, leading pilgrimages throughout the world to various Catholic religious sites. He is a frequent speaker on liturgy, music, spirituality, and pastoral ministry.