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	TRAGEDY AND PERSPECTIVE

The Gospel

MARK 8:22-26

When they arrived in Bethsaida, they brought to Jesus a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?" Looking up he replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid his hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”

The Media

"War of the Worlds"

beginning session

Ray Ferrier was an immature, divorced playboy who had custody of his children for the weekend. Suddenly unbelievable events began to happen, things that he could not cast aside in his usual sarcastic manner, and it began to threaten his family. He had to struggle with the ominous happenings around him, but especially he had to struggle to keep his family together. It was a tragedy that was happening, and he was not in control of the situation. He had to grow up in a hurry to face the tragedy before him. Tragedies happen in people's lives, but the mature person must be able to work with those tragedies, and do the best that can be done in the situation.

Probably one of the most difficult of all human situations is the difficulty of a tragedy happening close to one's family. A family member dies or is forever maimed in an accident, a parent suddenly becomes victim to dementia, a child is molested, a young person's parents divorce--all tragedies, and there are many more like them that happen every day to families in the world.

Jesus dealt with tragedies all his life, both tragedies that dealt with him personally and the tragedies of others. A story in Mark's Gospel may be indicative of how Jesus dealt with the tragedies of his life. Jesus cured the blind man in stages. Perhaps, Jesus was saying to the man that his perspective on life had to change so that he would see not only physically, but in every way. He faced the tragedy of the man's blindness, giving him the perspective of "working with it," saying to him that after the tragedy his perspective on life may not come right away. But eventually, the cure was accomplished, that is, eventually, his perspective completely changed. He was able to function in the world again.

The unfortunate thing about human tragedies is that usually they will never be completely cured. Unlike the evil machines of "War of the Worlds," and the blindness of the man in Mark's Gospel, the tragedy usually will never cease. But our perspectives about the tragedy can change. After the initial shock of the tragedy, we can turn to the Lord, as the blind man did in Mark's Gospel, and maybe we will be able to see that some type of change can come about. Whether the tragedy ceases or not, we can look at it from an entirely different perspective. We can live with it, actually grow from it. Eventually, even if we are not able to conquer the feelings of despair and depression that come from it, at least we will be able to face the tragedy in a different way.

THOUGHT

What is the worst tragedy that a young person must face? What is a way to "work with it"?

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, sometimes our lives are not easy. We not only have things that go wrong on a temporary basis, but there are tragedies that occur in our lives that stay with us forever. At those moments, help us turn to you and your Son so that we will be able to face our lives with a different understanding. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike