Do You ‘See’ Your Neighbor?

Master, I want to see. (Mark 10:51)

Fall is an incredibly beautiful season here in the northeast region of the United States, when cool evenings begin to change the colors of green leaves to vibrant autumn colors before, they eventually ‘fall’ from their great heights to the cold ground, often twisting and twirling in the gentle – and sometimes strong – breeze along the way.

In fact, this beautiful time of year, in general, reminds me of so many happy memories as a child when life – as for many of us a generation or two ago – was seemingly much more simple and less chaotic. In fact, it was a time when most families – in my experience – only had one car, one phone, and one TV … which was ‘black & white’, not color!

I grew up in a large family and in a very large, active suburban Catholic parish with a parochial school.  It was often the case that everyone ‘knew’ everyone else – well, almost everyone – and, very often, I knew several generations – and occasionally more! – of my fellow parishioners and neighbors.

This familiarity often made it very simple when someone needed a babysitter ‘last minute’ or help picking-up a sick child at school.  Neighbors looked after neighbors. If your child needed stitches from falling off a bicycle or out of a tree, you simply ‘called’ across the street or knocked on the neighbor’s door and just left your other children with them.   

This seemingly ‘simple’ way of life also carried with it a ‘consistent’ manner of values and upbringing so that parents, neighbors, teachers, coaches, police officers, doctors, etc. all had a common understanding of what was best for children and healthy family life, even if – and especially if – the family was undergoing strife or hardship due to a separation in the marriage or the premature death of a spouse or parent.

Unfortunately, if I might generalize and ‘tap’ into the experiences of many readers, this is not likely the case so much – if at all – today. In fact, I’d suggest that there seems to be growing differences rooted more in ‘division’ than in ‘diversity,’ often leaving families without the more common ‘safety net’ once enjoyed in years gone by, which can often ‘tear’ at the very ‘rich’ fabric of marriage, family & faith. 

As a priest, I certainly seem to ‘walk’ with one foot in ‘this’ world and one foot in the ‘next,’ especially when I sit with someone and hear about the challenges in their marriage or family life. Truly, our world is ‘seeing’ more and more challenges as – we might say – we are becoming more and more ‘blind’ to the needs of our ‘neighbor.’

I’m sure much in the life of Bartimaeus, the blind man we hear about in today’s Gospel passage (Mark 10:46-52), was ‘filled’ with darkness and fear, often wondering where his next meal would come from or if anyone would ‘see’ his needs and attend to him as they would their own family.

Undoubtedly, each one of us will have moments of feeling ‘alone’ or ‘outside’ the love of others – as I’m sure many in the world do; but it does not need to remain this way, a way with less hope for the future. In fact, I believe each one of us can participate in the ‘transformation’ of the world simply with ‘one’ kind word, ‘one’ good deed, or ‘one’ beautiful expression of love.

Yes, when we decide to participate in the ‘restoration’ of the genuine ‘love of neighbor’ that Christ mandated, we will truly begin to ‘Build the Faith’ that can re-establish the family of GOD here on earth. We will begin to ‘see’ the restoration of the family that Jesus established as His ‘Kingdom’ on earth.

For those of us so fortune to know little Christina Dangond – a beautiful shining light in our world and the inspiration of Build the Faith – we can see how much one child, so much in love with Jesus, can truly ‘build’ even churches and convents and retreat houses all around the world where more and more people of GOD will come to ‘see’ Jesus! Let us ‘set out’ under Our Lady’s ‘mantle’ and restore the ‘love of neighbor’ Christ mandated!

May little Christina intercede for us so we too might have the ‘faith’ of Bartimaeus, a faith Jesus will ‘use’ to heal the world!