The first reading of today's Eucharistic liturgy is so beautiful, that rather than write about it, I would rather sing it or reprint it.  "O my poor words!" the prophet simply says, "Now I will recall God's works.  What I have seen, I will describe."  Then we hear all about God having created things which when seen seem so wondrous.  The glory of the Lord fills all His works as does the sun fill the universe.  This is a poem in praise of the God Who wishes to be seen in all creation.  There is the consoling phrase that, "even God's holy ones fail in recounting the wonders of the Lord... "How beautiful are all His works, even to the spark and the fleeting vision."  The reading ends with the humble praise, "Can anyone see enough of their splendor."

The Gospel has our common story as its theme. Bartimaeus, a man who is blind, hears Jesus passing by.  He knows the truth of his condition and when Jesus asks him, "What do you want me to do for you", he tells Jesus the truth.  Jesus heals the man from being blind and heals him to "follow Him up the road."

"I want to see!" Bartimaeus and we want to be healed so as to see the creation, the wonders described in our first reading.  There is a deeper blindness which we all share and from which we cry, "I want to see!"  The wonders of the Lord we desire to touch and possess and we want to see more.  Our common blind condition is seeing the presence of God in the non-wondrous, the places where the sun does not show forth the greatness of God.  It is difficult to see in the dark and it is then that we cry out, "I want to see!"

We will receive our sight when we can receive our truth as did this Bartimaeus.

Seeing is believing?  Believing for Bartimaeus is the beginning of seeing.  Believing is seeing more than meets the eye.  We can visually see other persons or this object or that setting and we believe we have really "seen it all".  For those who are healed by their belief in Jesus, the reality of the Eucharist is simply receivable and believable, because they have been touched by His presence within and beyond what meets the eye.  With the eyes of faith we behold and hold His presence in the sacraments of the every day, the every moment and every person of those days. "you have nothing whatever to fear from Him, He is calling you.

Larry Gillick, S.J. wrote this reflection in 1999.