Lord, that I may see!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 1, 2022: Remembering St. Teresa of Child Jesus

Job 42:1-3,5-6,12-17; Luke 10:17-24

Job lived on to see his children and the children of his children, upto the fourth generation, says the first reading. Happy the eyes that see what you see, exclaims Jesus in the Gospel to the disciples, indicating to them how blessed they were! The message of the Word today is: what we see is not merely what we see, but what we are given to see!

As Job observes so clearly what he came to see (now that I have seen you with my own eyes), we are given to see certain things in life which we would never see otherwise. It is a gift we need to ask from the Lord to see - to see what we need to see, to see what would give us the true repentance of heart, to see that which will offer us the fullness of the sense of our life, to see that which will clarify to us the true vocation we have from God.

Jesus explains it further. Not every one can see, but those who are destined to see and those to whom God reveals it - the humble, the obedient, the gentle, in short the true children of God - only they would be able to see what they are given to see. Not that it is not there, but the aggressive, the haughty and the self-centered will never get to see it.

St. Teresa lived her life as an exemplification of this fact - in her simplicity and in her little way to sanctity, she has overthrown all haughty claims of grandeur and self-glory. How important it is that the people who think of themselves too high, who look down on others, who think they can manipulate everything for their good, who take people for granted and oppress others without conscience, get to see truly what reality is and what their destiny would be! However, it doesn't depend on our wish, but God's will to reveal.

The call for us is, to be attentive to what God wants us to see, to see what God reveals to us and to be able to see what would give us the right sense of our life, here and now. As little children learning life at the School of our Lord, let our prayer today be, 'Lord, that I may see!'