Lord, I Accept My Blindness. Now, Touch Me To See

My Dearest Jesus, when you restored the eyes of the man born blind on the Sabbath, the Pharisees said you are not from God. They accused you of being a sinner. But I am here to testify like Apostle Peter that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the only begotten Son of God sent to the world so that everyone who believes in you may not perish but may have eternal life. Like Apostle Thomas, I call you “My Lord and my God.” You are the Spotless Lamb of God who takes away my sins and the sins of the world upon your shoulder. I call you Yahweh! I call you Adonai! I call you Christos! I call you my Savior. 

Mighty Warrior, today, some people believe you are a prophet and nothing more. Although you are a prophet, I believe you are more than a prophet. I am here to adore you as my King, my Lord, and my God. You are my Redeemer and without you I can do absolutely nothing. Today, a growing number of people deny your very existence. They arrogantly and ignorantly claim that you are a figment of imagination and a creation by Christians. Such people use every opportunity they get to mock and ridicule you. Merciful Lord, I am here to plead for your mercy and also to submit that you are the incarnation of God, Yahweh in human flesh. I believe that your Father, my Father is the only true God and you, Jesus Christ, the one he has sent to redeem me and the world. Like the Pharisees of your time, there are still many Jews who believe they are disciples of Moses and see you merely as their brother. Just as you opened the eyes of the man born blind, continue to open the eyes of many Jews and non-Jews alike to believe and accept that you are the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that through you we have unfiltered access to the Father. Help all people to acknowledge you as the Son of Man and the Redeemer of humanity. 

Loving Jesus, be merciful to me for the times I acknowledged you in words alone and denied you in deeds. Be merciful to me for the times I demonstrated in action that I do not know where you are from. Have mercy on those who deny your very existence. Have mercy on those who reduce you to a mere prophet or a guru, or a philosopher. Open my eyes to see and to know you more and more. Open the eyes and minds of those who deny your existence or reduce your identity to realize who you are and to surrender to you. 

Lord, I accept my blindness. Now, touch me to see. I accept there is darkness in me. Now let your light shine in my soul and overtake the darkness. Like the man born blind, I am also a beggar. I sit by the roadside weighed down by my ignominy. Now pick me up and bring me, the wandering one to the Father. Please Lord, reserve my seat at the table of your banquet. And when my earthly life is done, take me to your heavenly Kingdom, my true home.  Amen.  

— Composed by:

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A

March 22, 2020