By Tom Thomas –
The grabbed moments for a family rosary often come at the end of a long day. It is hard to get everyone’s schedules in alignment in this 24X7 culture. After having had an early start to the day, I am normally a bit sleepy at the rosary time. Yes, it is not ideal, but we keep it going as much as possible every night, with one family member in another city joining in over the phone for her decade.
Last week, I confess, I was almost dozing off at the end of the rosary, when the words, “Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy,” at the start of the Litany evokes thoughts. Where have I heard them before recently? Then it comes to mind, the sightless men beseeching the Lord in the latter part of Mt 20, covered recently as a part of a Bible study.
“ And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened. And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him. “( Mt 20: 32-34)
The sightless men’s call stopped the Lord in His tracks as He was going towards His difficult destination. “What do you want me to do for you?” He asks them. They receive what they want because He heard their cry and they asked with the right intentions. Unlike Salome ( Scholars say she is the mother of James and John) and her sons with their request for power as narrated midway through the same chapter Mt 20.
“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” ( Mt 20:20-21)
This request is coming from a mother whose two sons left their worldly fishing business to follow the Lord. without any hesitation. The two sons who were closest to the Lord, along with Peter. Surely, this mother must have known what the Lord’s Mission was? But her plea on her knees, along with her sons, to the Lord indicated that she did not grasp the full import of the Lord’s Mission. Her sons went on to be the first and the last of the Apostles to die for the Lord and she is recorded to be in the Gospels at the foot of the cross and at the tomb with the other women. She strikes me as a parent just as I am, wanting the best for our children, though not clear exactly what that is, at times.
Thinking a bit more about the sightless men and Salome, I wonder: Whenever I say prayers mechanically, not paying attention to the words said and just mumbling them, how can He hear me? Or if I don’t ask for the right things, how can I expect my prayers to be answered? How many times I have asked for things from the Lord for my children that I think they need in this world (as Salome did), instead of asking His plan for them to be revealed to them, and my wife and I? So that they can work towards His own unique Divine plan for them, instead of our own worldly aspirations.
The world beckons with so many things to do. Bit nothing more important than to see the Lord and discern His Will. Lord be with me and help me to see You as You helped the sightless. Help me to ask You for the right things. As the sightless who regained their sight and followed You, let me never forget You once I receive the things I ask for and You grant them to me. Let me not expect any special reward for doing Your work, as You have taught us at the beginning of Mt 20 by the parable of the servants in the Vineyard narrated. All are equal in Your eyes.
Help me to remember these precious gems from Mt 20, and not forget the message conveyed. I think these thoughts as we end the rosary. So glad to have the opportunity of regular Bible study which reveals the hidden treasures within that we can align our lives on.
“What are you thinking about Dad?” my youngest asks as we end the Rosary, and share a few close family moments thereafter.
“Hidden Treasures”, I reply.