We have a crisis, and it’s not just race and violence. We
have a crisis. But it is much older than the events of the past week in
Charlotte. It’s much older than the violence that has been taking place in our
cities in the past few years. We have a crisis and we have had it for a long,
long time. We have lost our ability to see. We are blinded as a society.
The people of Amos’ time were blinded too. So was the rich
man in the parable of the Lord Jesus. They were blinded by riches. They were
blinded by comfort. They were blinded by selfishness. They had lost their
ability to see.
And what is it that they could no longer see? What is it that
they could look upon with their eyes but not see? They were blinded to the
image and likeness of God. They could not see and would not see the image and
likeness of the Lord of heaven and earth in the faces of the people around
them. They could not see and would not see the sacred value of the sacred gift
of every life.
That was their crisis and it is ours as well. We have lost,
as a society, the ability to see the gift of life. We have lost, as a society,
the capacity to see the dignity of every human life as a unique and precious
gift of Almighty God. We have been blinded by riches. We have been blinded by
comfort. We have been blinded by selfishness.
We are blinded, as a society, every time a child is slaughtered in the womb. We are blinded, as a society, every time a child is abused or neglected. We are blinded, as a society, every time a school becomes a place of violence and not a place of learning. We are blinded, as a society, every time the sick are neglected. We are blinded, as a society, when those who live on the margins are quietly swept off the page of our history. We are blinded, as a society, when we take vengeance in the name of justice. We are blinded as a society every time a life is considered less valuable than a thing.
But we follow the One who makes the lame to walk and the
blind to see. The Lord Jesus is the One who can heal our blindness. The Lord
Jesus is the One who can correct our vision. The Lord Jesus is the One who can
help us see what was from the beginning, the image and likeness of God. The
Lord Jesus is the One who will open our eyes so that we can recognize Him and
recognize His presence in every human life.
We have a crisis, and it’s not just race and violence. We
have a crisis, as a society. But here in the celebration of the Eucharist, we
gaze upon the face of the Savior, and He corrects our vision. In Him, we see
the face of the Invisible God. We see the face of life. We see the face of
hope. We see the face of love and of mercy. We look to Jesus, and pray, “Lord,
I want to see.” Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
