Mtr Mary Trainor

What do you want me to do for you?

Dear friend,

I try to imagine Jesus asking me that question: “What do you want me to do for you?” How would I answer?

A litany of wants and wishes—some self-centered, some more generous—comes to mind quite quickly. But if I pause to consider the question more deeply, I have to wonder. Am I courageous enough to ask, Lord, let my eyes be opened? Perhaps I’m comfortable not knowing some things. The desperation of the hungry or the violence of the streets come to mind.

***

In today’s Office Gospel from Matthew, Jesus and disciples are leaving Jericho, continuing the journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Two blind men shout out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

When Jesus asks what it is they want, they said, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

***

My father was an excellent driver. He took pride in this fact—so much pride, in fact, that he tried to hide the one speeding ticket he ever received. But we were onto him, and this seemed to bring him a surprising amount of shame.

Another drawback of his fine driving was judgment—sometimes profane—of other drivers. When someone pulled in front of him with too little space to spare, he would lay on the horn and shout with hostility coating every word: “Oh, don’t look around, pal, something might be gaining on you.”

***

If I were to ask Jesus to open my eyes, what might I risk seeing—that I would rather not see? After all, just like that driver that pulled unsafely into Daddy’s path, something scary might be gaining on me and I would rather not deal with it right now. If my eyes were opened, what might I see? And what might that require of me?

***

Did you read or hear the story this week of a Missouri man freed after serving 43 years for a crime he did not commit? 

Besides the wrong conviction, there were many flaws and intentional lapses in the process that led to conviction. And what will the system do now, as reparation? Not. One. Thing.

See, if my eyes were opened, I just might have to notice things like that and wonder what role I could play to make a difference, either now or in the future.

“What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

Mtr Mary