One of my favorite lines in this first reading is “you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary.”  I love the thought that as we demonstrate our faith we are given strength and do not tire.  Of course, it reminds me of a song . . . We will run and not grow weary for our God will be our strength and we will fly like an eagle we will rise again. Our strength, our source of all we do is God and our relationship with God.  It is such a sense of freedom and comfort – knowing that we are in the arms of God. When I remember this I can be content regardless of the circumstances.

The responsorial psalm uses a verse from Revelations that is yet another example of the hope present in that book.  “ . . . I will feed from the tree of life.”  The image associated with this line is such a positive one – a tree of life that reaches to the sky and is deeply rooted in the earth.  A tree that provides beauty in every season – with new buds and flowers, with lush green leaves, with brightly colored foliage, and even, with bare branches dramatic against the sky.  We are fed from this – our bodies, our souls!! Once again, how can I not be content?  Oh, I can find ways, the pollen bothers my allergies, the leaves are a pain to rake, and I could go on.  But why, why do we need to focus on the little annoyances and lose sight of the glorious “big picture?” 

Perhaps it is most fitting that the gospel focuses on a blind man with incredible faith.  We are all blind in many ways – too often without the faith of this man.  Too often, not realizing that all we have to do is to open our hearts to the Lord, to ask Jesus to “let me see.”  My renewed prayer is to keep an open heart and to give my life over to God in a more dedicated way.  I know when I do the right things happen.  Perhaps not what I feared or expected or even hoped for – but I know they are the right things . . .