In these last two weeks of the Church year, the readings have
a flavor of finality about them -- about the importance of recovering
our fervor in serving God, rather than lesser and even opposing
forces in our life. Thus, in the Book of Maccabees, it even comes
to martyrdom: those who refused to go along with pagan practices
are put to death because "they preferred to die rather than
to be defiled ... or to profane the holy covenant." It seems
to me this is a call for us to reflect upon how seriously and fully
committed we are to God's holy covenant, what we are willing to
give up to be faithful, and what we need to resist in our culture
today. So I ask myself, 'What customs, practices, temptations, idols,
and "abominations" cause me to depart from the Way of
Christ, the path to life?' These are probably going to be in the
area of riches, honors, and pride.
Then I turn to today's Gospel about the blind beggar. I think an
especially effective way of praying this passage is to follow the
model of Ignatian contemplation -- to put myself in the place of
the beggar (and we are all beggars and blind when it comes to God
and the Kingdom) and to beg Jesus, "Son of David, have pity
on me." When I then hear Jesus asking me, "What do you
want me to do for you?" I will answer accordingly. What is
it that I most need to recover my fervor as a disciple? It will
most likely be in the area of how I fail to see rightly, a recovery
of the vision of my faith. Then, just as the blind beggar did in
this Gospel passage, I rejoice and praise God and thank God for
the gift of discipleship.
It might also help our prayer to think about how this man's whole
life will be different from now on. The place of blindness was also
a comfort zone for him, something he probably got used to. His newly-recovered
sight, seeing the whole world in a new light, will also call him
to drastic changes in his life style - a true conversion within,
as well as without. So I ask myself, what am I being called to anew?
What is the real and serious conversion I need right now in my own
life? How can I make use of the coming season of Advent to sustain
this transformation? What is the comfort zone I am being called
to leave behind? Continuing the role of blind beggar, I ask God
with all my heart, "Lord, please let me see!"
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