FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK……
October 26, 2003

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Have you ever eaten meatloaf made with laundry starch?  They tell a story at my family get-togethers about one of my great aunts.  Her nickname was "Aunt Bunny."  She raised my dad and his sister from a very early age after my grandmother's untimely death at a very young age.  During the last ten years or so of her life, she was legally blind.  She still loved to be active.  She also liked to cook.  On one occasion, she made her famous meatloaf.  She went to the refrigerator to get some milk to blend in with the ground beef and breadcrumbs.  Since she couldn't see, she used her sense of taste to discover what she was pulling out from the refrigerator.  She kept a jar of laundry starch in the refrigerator.  This time the milk jar got put in the wrong place.  She pulled out the laundry starch instead of the milk.  She tasted the liquid, but to her it tasted like milk that was going sour but still good enough to be used in cooking.  It was only after the family had enjoyed her meatloaf that the error was discovered.  Needless to say, "Aunt Bunny" never lived this mistake down!

Physical blindness, of course, is no laughing matter.  However, there is a type of blindness that is even worse.  That's spiritual blindness.  Many of us who have our normally good physical eyesight are nevertheless victims of spiritual blindness.  We are blind to those attitudes, bad habits, personal short-comings, and weaknesses that block us from making greater progress on our spiritual journey and impede us from giving the kind of witness of faith that the Lord calls us to give through our baptism.  We are blind to those things in our lives that tarnish our Christian witness and stymie our spiritual growth.

In today's Gospel, Jesus hears the blind man's plea:  "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."  (See Mark 10: 46-52)  Jesus gives Bartimaeus his sight.  Jesus can do the same for us.  He can give us spiritual sight.  Spiritual sight is more important than physical sight.  Physical sight only lasts for a short while in this world, whereas spiritual sight will go with us to eternity.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Raymond J. Tintle, OFM