With prayer, Jesus can make things clearer

Preparing for a trip to Ecuador some years ago, I decided to read up on this country I had never visited. I discovered many interesting facts and decided to share one with a priest friend. “Hey, did you know that Ecuador is on the equator?” I asked with excitement.
“Hence the name,” he responded sarcastically. Those were the days before I began to study Spanish. “Ecuador” is Spanish for “equator.” Oh well.
It was another example of a common experience, the kind that makes me blush and laugh with embarrassment: I failed to see something that was as plain as the nose on my face.
A household repair appears complicated but could be easily accomplished. Two things are side-by-side, their connection as clear as a bell, but I fail to see it. The answer to a question eludes me, but I was looking in the wrong place. Something happens in my life that seems to make no sense, but in a matter of weeks it dawns on me that I had been missing a meaning that was there all along. A phrase in the Gospel, a word of Jesus confounds me for years, but in an unexpected instant it makes sense. What took me so long?
I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, in the blink of an eye we will understand a long list of things that had perplexed us in this life — but whose meaning had always been there, as plain as the noses on our faces. We’ll blush with embarrassment, and God will smile. He’s wanted us to see for a long time.
There’s no doubt we will not comprehend everything until we see God face to face. But there’s also no doubt that in this life faith in Jesus gives us a heart to see and understand many things and strength to persevere through what we cannot see or understand.
The physically and spiritually blind have always sought him, and of all the Gospel stories about Jesus restoring sight, one particularly appeals to me. First, some context.
Mark’s Gospel guides us through the ministry of Jesus, his miracles and his mercy. Jesus calls his disciples, cures demoniacs, raises Peter’s mother-in-law to health, cleanses a leper and others with many diseases, teaches about the kingdom, calms a storm at sea, sends the apostles to proclaim the kingdom, feeds 5,000 with five loaves and two fish and 4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish, and walks on water in a storm. All these things his disciples had witnessed. But still they did not understand.
Jesus says to them, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but not see, ears and not hear?… Do you still not understand?” (see Mark 8:14-21)
The phrase, “Do you still not understand” is a kind of turning point in Mark’s Gospel, a critical question about the disciples’ comprehension of the kingdom of God. They have followed Jesus and come to know him, but they still do not see all there is to see — they are still afflicted with blindness. Then Jesus performs a miracle, which mirrors their situation exactly. They come upon a man who literally had eyes but could not see.
“When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, ’Do you see anything?’
“Looking up he replied, ’I see people looking like trees and walking.’ Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.” (Mark 8:22-25)
This is an interesting passage because Jesus healed the blind man in stages: at first people looked to him like walking trees, but after Jesus touched him a second time he could see everything clearly. Like the blind man, the disciples needed repeated contact and growing intimacy with Jesus to see and understand the kingdom.
I find great comfort in this Gospel story, for at times I too am slow to understand even the obvious. I have been a disciple for many years, have seen his love and his grace in action and felt his comfort in trial — yet still I am slow to understand. Following the Lord, seeking to know and love him more, hoping to comprehend all that he wishes me to comprehend, striving to lead the life he wishes me to live, proclaiming a kingdom I want to know infinitely better myself — I go to Jesus in prayer, asking him to help me see more, see better and understand. Patiently he leads me, wiping away the fuzziness that stands in the way.
We are all blind, at least to some extent, and we miss the nose on our face. But if we stay close to the Lord Jesus, getting to know him better through prayer and following his way, he will clarify all things in his good time. In the meantime he will lift us up when we stumble. No need for embarrassment — only humility and a desire to follow him.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

Latest from From the Bishop

With prayer, Jesus can make things clearer

Preparing for a trip to Ecuador some years ago, I decided to read up on this country I had never visited. I discovered many interesting facts and decided to share one with a priest friend. “Hey, did you know that Ecuador is on the equator?” I asked with excitement.
“Hence the name,” he responded sarcastically. Those were the days before I began to study Spanish. “Ecuador” is Spanish for “equator.” Oh well.
It was another example of a common experience, the kind that makes me blush and laugh with embarrassment: I failed to see something that was as plain as the nose on my face.
A household repair appears complicated but could be easily accomplished. Two things are side-by-side, their connection as clear as a bell, but I fail to see it. The answer to a question eludes me, but I was looking in the wrong place. Something happens in my life that seems to make no sense, but in a matter of weeks it dawns on me that I had been missing a meaning that was there all along. A phrase in the Gospel, a word of Jesus confounds me for years, but in an unexpected instant it makes sense. What took me so long?
I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, in the blink of an eye we will understand a long list of things that had perplexed us in this life — but whose meaning had always been there, as plain as the noses on our faces. We’ll blush with embarrassment, and God will smile. He’s wanted us to see for a long time.
There’s no doubt we will not comprehend everything until we see God face to face. But there’s also no doubt that in this life faith in Jesus gives us a heart to see and understand many things and strength to persevere through what we cannot see or understand.
The physically and spiritually blind have always sought him, and of all the Gospel stories about Jesus restoring sight, one particularly appeals to me. First, some context.
Mark’s Gospel guides us through the ministry of Jesus, his miracles and his mercy. Jesus calls his disciples, cures demoniacs, raises Peter’s mother-in-law to health, cleanses a leper and others with many diseases, teaches about the kingdom, calms a storm at sea, sends the apostles to proclaim the kingdom, feeds 5,000 with five loaves and two fish and 4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish, and walks on water in a storm. All these things his disciples had witnessed. But still they did not understand.
Jesus says to them, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but not see, ears and not hear?… Do you still not understand?” (see Mark 8:14-21)
The phrase, “Do you still not understand” is a kind of turning point in Mark’s Gospel, a critical question about the disciples’ comprehension of the kingdom of God. They have followed Jesus and come to know him, but they still do not see all there is to see — they are still afflicted with blindness. Then Jesus performs a miracle, which mirrors their situation exactly. They come upon a man who literally had eyes but could not see.
“When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, ’Do you see anything?’
“Looking up he replied, ’I see people looking like trees and walking.’ Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.” (Mark 8:22-25)
This is an interesting passage because Jesus healed the blind man in stages: at first people looked to him like walking trees, but after Jesus touched him a second time he could see everything clearly. Like the blind man, the disciples needed repeated contact and growing intimacy with Jesus to see and understand the kingdom.
I find great comfort in this Gospel story, for at times I too am slow to understand even the obvious. I have been a disciple for many years, have seen his love and his grace in action and felt his comfort in trial — yet still I am slow to understand. Following the Lord, seeking to know and love him more, hoping to comprehend all that he wishes me to comprehend, striving to lead the life he wishes me to live, proclaiming a kingdom I want to know infinitely better myself — I go to Jesus in prayer, asking him to help me see more, see better and understand. Patiently he leads me, wiping away the fuzziness that stands in the way.
We are all blind, at least to some extent, and we miss the nose on our face. But if we stay close to the Lord Jesus, getting to know him better through prayer and following his way, he will clarify all things in his good time. In the meantime he will lift us up when we stumble. No need for embarrassment — only humility and a desire to follow him.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

Latest from From the Bishop

With prayer, Jesus can make things clearer

Preparing for a trip to Ecuador some years ago, I decided to read up on this country I had never visited. I discovered many interesting facts and decided to share one with a priest friend. “Hey, did you know that Ecuador is on the equator?” I asked with excitement.
“Hence the name,” he responded sarcastically. Those were the days before I began to study Spanish. “Ecuador” is Spanish for “equator.” Oh well.
It was another example of a common experience, the kind that makes me blush and laugh with embarrassment: I failed to see something that was as plain as the nose on my face.
A household repair appears complicated but could be easily accomplished. Two things are side-by-side, their connection as clear as a bell, but I fail to see it. The answer to a question eludes me, but I was looking in the wrong place. Something happens in my life that seems to make no sense, but in a matter of weeks it dawns on me that I had been missing a meaning that was there all along. A phrase in the Gospel, a word of Jesus confounds me for years, but in an unexpected instant it makes sense. What took me so long?
I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, in the blink of an eye we will understand a long list of things that had perplexed us in this life — but whose meaning had always been there, as plain as the noses on our faces. We’ll blush with embarrassment, and God will smile. He’s wanted us to see for a long time.
There’s no doubt we will not comprehend everything until we see God face to face. But there’s also no doubt that in this life faith in Jesus gives us a heart to see and understand many things and strength to persevere through what we cannot see or understand.
The physically and spiritually blind have always sought him, and of all the Gospel stories about Jesus restoring sight, one particularly appeals to me. First, some context.
Mark’s Gospel guides us through the ministry of Jesus, his miracles and his mercy. Jesus calls his disciples, cures demoniacs, raises Peter’s mother-in-law to health, cleanses a leper and others with many diseases, teaches about the kingdom, calms a storm at sea, sends the apostles to proclaim the kingdom, feeds 5,000 with five loaves and two fish and 4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish, and walks on water in a storm. All these things his disciples had witnessed. But still they did not understand.
Jesus says to them, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but not see, ears and not hear?… Do you still not understand?” (see Mark 8:14-21)
The phrase, “Do you still not understand” is a kind of turning point in Mark’s Gospel, a critical question about the disciples’ comprehension of the kingdom of God. They have followed Jesus and come to know him, but they still do not see all there is to see — they are still afflicted with blindness. Then Jesus performs a miracle, which mirrors their situation exactly. They come upon a man who literally had eyes but could not see.
“When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, ’Do you see anything?’
“Looking up he replied, ’I see people looking like trees and walking.’ Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.” (Mark 8:22-25)
This is an interesting passage because Jesus healed the blind man in stages: at first people looked to him like walking trees, but after Jesus touched him a second time he could see everything clearly. Like the blind man, the disciples needed repeated contact and growing intimacy with Jesus to see and understand the kingdom.
I find great comfort in this Gospel story, for at times I too am slow to understand even the obvious. I have been a disciple for many years, have seen his love and his grace in action and felt his comfort in trial — yet still I am slow to understand. Following the Lord, seeking to know and love him more, hoping to comprehend all that he wishes me to comprehend, striving to lead the life he wishes me to live, proclaiming a kingdom I want to know infinitely better myself — I go to Jesus in prayer, asking him to help me see more, see better and understand. Patiently he leads me, wiping away the fuzziness that stands in the way.
We are all blind, at least to some extent, and we miss the nose on our face. But if we stay close to the Lord Jesus, getting to know him better through prayer and following his way, he will clarify all things in his good time. In the meantime he will lift us up when we stumble. No need for embarrassment — only humility and a desire to follow him.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

Latest from From the Bishop