The Gospel according to Luke (18:35-43)
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
Reflection: Every night when I go to bed and before I close my eyes, I review the things the occurred in my day. I think about the good things, the bad things, the people I spoke to, the things I said, what I would do differently next time, and what Blessings did I miss. All of this is called an “Examen of Conscious”.
When you do the “Examen”, it teaches you to never regret a day in your life because good days give happiness, bad days give experience, really bad days give lessons, and great days give memories.
Today’s Gospel story refers to a Blind Man that we all assume that he couldn’t see. In reality, he knew exactly what he needed to do and actually could visualize everything that surrounded him. All of this was because of his faith.
This reminds me of a blind man that I befriended when I traveled by train to work. His name was Richard. Richard helped me open my eyes because of who he was; what he did; and how he responded to things. Let me explain. I met Richard because I would see him everyday on the train going to work. He would meander his way through the busy walkways, stairs, escalators, and streets of Downtown Los Angeles. I was blown away by his courage and was determined to meet him. I used to assist him through his walk, and we would have great conversations together. People would see me helping him and tell me that it was nice of me to help him, but the truth is that Richard was helping me see life through his eyes. You see, Richard was always happy. I never heard him complain about his condition or anything else. We would always have pleasant conversations that would usually continue for a couple of days. These conversations would open my eyes and realize that if a blind man could see this then why couldn’t I see it?! Richard also was my hero because his job was working for a company that would assist other disabled people by giving directions and resources to get around the city. On top of it all, Richard just acquired his master’s degree and was working on his PHD. Now remember that he was blind, so all of his schoolbooks had to be converted from plain text to braille which he somehow did himself. Not to mention attending class, taking notes, doing homework etc. All of this plus working full time.
WOW! Sometimes we think that our plates are full and couldn’t do more because we are too busy. Well, there was my motivation to never use the word busy. It opened my blind eyes to see that God is calling me to do all and to find a way to get it done because of my faith. Just like Richard.
So, every day I pray to The Lord to keep my face toward the sunshine and to allow the shadows to fall behind me. Which reminds me of a poem that is called “Given”:
We travelers, walking to the sun, can’t see ahead, but looking back, the very light that blinded us shows us the way we came, along which blessings now appear, risen as if from sightlessness to sight, and we, by blessing brightly lit, keep going toward that blessed light that yet to us is dark. – Wendell Berry
Action of the Day: You guessed it! Yes, try doing an “Examen of Conscious” tonight as you lay your head on your pillow.
Audio Reflection:
