Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Sr. Eden Panganiban, SSpS
Wednesday 6th Week in Ordinary Time / Year 1
In a week’s time, we will enter into our Lenten journey. The two readings of today sharpen our senses to the rhythm of God in our lives. The accounts from Genesis 8,6-13.20-22 and Mark 8,22-26 show a progressive movement: Nothing significant in life happens suddenly.
Noah has to wait for the water to recede. He sends out the raven first and then the dove. The blind man has to wait for his vision to be restored. He sees first images of people like trees; then, he sees with clarity and distinction.
Waiting is a graced moment. Waiting is the way of life. Every stage in the life of a living organism is a developmental and progressive process. Nothing goes instantaneously. Every event in our life can become momentous and life-changing if we look beyond.
This I say as I have experienced illness. I have always been healthy until, at 71, I was diagnosed with cancer. How would I take it? A death-sentence? A breakdown? Or a breakthrough? The choice was mine. It was not a speedy process to reach acceptance and find meaning in it: to transition from seeing persons like trees to seeing with clarity and distinction. As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross writes:
Grief and loss go through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
The pandemic years have taught us so much about waiting and finding meaning in everything. Let us not throw these lessons away. We wait for dawn after a long night. We await the tree from the tiny seed. We wait for the wound to heal, for the heart to understand. When the heart is ready, the eyes will see. We do not force the future to come; instead, we welcome the PRESENT hidden in every present moment.
As the Lord touches our hearts, we pray that our eyes see beyond the tears and sores and welcome the Light with gratitude. Then waiting becomes GRACE.
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