I was really afraid I would have to write about politics this morning. Everyone is still talking about the election. As Fr. John said at Mass on Sunday, it happens every year: If you backed the winner, you are elated. If you backed the loser, you can’t understand how everyone else could be so thick headed. Still, the Republic stands.
But this year seemed different. The campaign was uglier than usual, filled with fear-mongering, comments we would never repeat to our children, and promises that, if carried out, seemed just as un-American as they are un-Christian. A generation used to getting its way has taken to the streets. Up is down. Apples are oranges. Politics has become the ultimate reality show and the person who could out punch, out last, out tweet, and out manipulate their opponent has won.
But I don’t want to write about politics. So I look to this morning’s Gospel reading for hope.
There it is, Luke’s version of the blind man on the side of the road. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks.
The man replied, “Please, I want to see.”
This reading always makes me chuckle. The man was blind. The people on the side of the streets knew it (they had to tell him what all the fuss along the road was about). My guess is the townspeople knew it. He certainly knew he was blind. And Jesus likely knew too, if not as he entered the town, surely Jesus was smart enough as others led the man to him to realize the man was blind.
Still, he asked the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”
I always imagined Peter, who struggled to understand so many things, slapping himself on the forehead at the question and then leaning in to whisper to Jesus, “Dude, he’s blind. You really had to ask?”
But yes, Jesus has to ask. Because the question demands an answer – just as much now as then.
What do you need? What do you want? What can the Master Teacher do for you today? How can I heal you? How can I serve you? What do you want me to do for you?
The story is not about a man born blind. The story is about a Messiah who wants to know our needs.
So name your needs. Tell Jesus what’s bothering you. Pray your story, your frustrations, your fears, and your hopes.
Then let Jesus give you the ability to see and enjoy the unmerited grace that comes from simply naming your needs.