“Bartimaeus, I am blind too,

So what if you grasped my hand and guided my heart

And led me to the place of your healing along the dirt path,

Since I desire to experience what you saw

When light entered your eyes,

To live your miracle in my own darkness,

The eyes of Jesus looking through me,

To hear his voice flow through my body,

To feel his rough hand wiping the sweat from my brow,

To smell his warm words covering my face as he prays new life in me,

To capture the eternal hope for my loneliness,

Not just for me

But for the deep wounds of our people,

So what if I could really see

The suffering of those around me along the road and

The injustices that ravage so many on the journey,

Those who sell their bodies along the roadside,

Those who walk for hundreds of miles for some food

Those who struggle to breastfeed their children in the hot sun,

Those who travel miles in plastic shoes to find permanent housing,

Those who sit on street corners communicating with cardboard signs,

Those who stride toward healthcare and possible education

And what if I could answer the question Jesus asked you,

‘What do you want me to do for you?’

And what if I could muster the courage from deep within

To form words on my lips welling up from my empty soul

To finally give my own life voice on behalf of those who suffer the most

To feel within my throat the fluttering hope

Of love compelling words out of me

And allowing my answer to be born in light,

‘Master I want to see’?”

 

(Text: Ronald Raab, CSC)