pray to see to pray to see
"I want to see." —Mark 10:51
The apostles twice saw Jesus multiply the loaves and the fish, but they did not see the significance of these miracles. In His frustration, Jesus exclaimed to them: "Do you still not see or comprehend? Are your minds completely blinded? Have you eyes but no sight?" (Mk 8:17-18) The apostles were spiritually blind not only to the significance of Jesus' miracles, but also to the significance of Jesus Himself. They were blind to the necessity of the cross (see Mk 8:31-33).
Jesus tried to begin to correct the apostles' vision by means of His Transfiguration before three apostles (see Mk 9:2ff). This did not succeed, as the apostles continued to be blinded to the Lord's revelations of the cross (see Mk 9:32). Next, the Lord healed the blind Bartimaeus physically. He hoped that the apostles might learn from Bartimaeus to pray: "Rabboni, I want to see" (see Mk 10:51). However, that didn't work either. Even Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection didn't open the apostles' eyes. Finally, two disciples' eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread on the afternoon of Jesus' resurrection (Lk 24:31). Then, with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, many eyes were opened.
Jesus' disciples finally saw the significance of Jesus' Transfiguration and the healing of blind Bartimaeus. The disciples saw the need to pray: "I want to see" (Mk 10:51), and the Church was born.
Prayer: Father, may I see my blindness so that I can pray to see.
Promise: "Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng." —Jer 31:8
Praise: Praise Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life! (Jn 11:25) "If we have died with Him we shall also live with Him" (2 Tm 2:11).
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, March 22, 1997
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 26, 1997