“Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done according to your faith.’ And their eyes were opened.”

Our eyes are opened according to our faith -- the eyes of our head as well as the eyes of our heart.

Habitual, earnest prayer -- Relationship with God -- grows us, changes us, converts us to see more today than yesterday, and moves us to become the change we wish to see, or the change God encourages in us. As our faith increases, so does our awareness of the world around us.

Do I see those on the margins with clearer vision? Am I moved to relieve suffering?

Do I see more clearly my own faults, failures, and selfishness? Do I desire to become a better version of who God intends me to be?

Do I see God’s presence in everything and everybody? Do I deliberately veil my eyes against the suffering of our world, our communities, our families? Do I close my eyes and heart to those who hurt me or threaten my worldview? Or do I see God present there, too, and offer prayers of gratitude for my sight, and the courage to act with compassion and conviction?

It’s risky to ask for my blindness to be reversed or my blurred vision to become corrected. I might see more than I want to.  A lot might be asked of me.

Curiously, “Jesus warned them sternly, ‘See that no one knows about this.’ But they went out and spread the word of him throughout all that land.”

Perhaps Jesus warns me, too: “Don’t tell, show! Show them you see them and love them! Don’t talk about the graces of deeper faith and clarity of vision. Give thanks and praise, and become an active instrument of compassion, justice, and love.”

I’ve learned that when I pray “to see more clearly,” I also request courage, compassion, and enduring love.