Take Heart and Arise

First Reading: Sirach 42:15-25
I will now call to mind the works of the Lord, and will declare what I have seen. By the words of the Lord his works are done. The sun looks down on everything with its light, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory. The Lord has not enabled his holy ones to recount all his marvelous works, which the Lord the Almighty has established that the universe may stand firm in his glory. He searches out the abyss, and the hearts of men, and considers their crafty devices. For the Most High knows all that may be known, and he looks into the signs of the age. He declares what has been and what is to be, and he reveals the tracks of hidden things. No thought escapes him, and not one word is hidden from him. He has ordained the splendors of his wisdom, and he is from everlasting and to everlasting. Nothing can be added or taken away, and he needs no one to be his counselor. How greatly to be desired are all his works, and how sparkling they are to see! All these things live and remain for ever for every need, and are all obedient. All things are twofold, one opposite the other, and he has made nothing incomplete. One confirms the good things of the other, and who can have enough of beholding his glory?

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33:2-9
Praise the LORD with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song, play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright; and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth.

Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
And they came to Jericho; and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, Bartimae'us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae'us, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is calling you." And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

ESV

Take heart.

Arise.

He is calling you.

I don't much like the morning. Perhaps you can commiserate. However, these three sentences have caused me to reflect on the topic of the morning, and I have started to ponder . . . what would it be like to hear this proclaimed every time I awoke to a new sunrise of a new day?

There are many mornings when I open my eyes and the task of life seems too daunting, the to-do list seems far too long, the heartbreak people around me are experiencing is just too much for my aching heart to bear, and the people who will need my help seem far too many for me to reach them all.

These things can sometimes keep me from any desire to rise and seize the gift of a new day.

But no matter the difficulty of the endeavor of this life, the Lord calls us out of our beds every morning to see the gift that He has given us, and to respond to this blessing of a day we so often take for granted. Christ calls us to a life in which the smallest thing we do within a 24-hour time period could radically change the life of one person we come in contact with.

When we hear the Lord calling us into a day with Him as our guide, loving others should trump our to-do lists, giving of ourselves in service to Him should dissolve our worries that He will not continue to provide, and our heartbreak at the happenings of this world should move us to love as He loves.

May those words resound in our hearts tomorrow when we awake to the new day. May we take heart and rise to embrace a gift to be unfolded, and may we see each moment of our lives as a moment in which Christ calls us to share His love, His light, and His joy.

May we take heart and rise to embrace a gift to be unfolded.Click to tweet

Each day is a gift. In the busyness and difficulty of life, do you find a need to change your thinking to see every day as a glorious gift rather than a burden?

photo by Laura Jensen

Emily Wilson planned her whole life to become a sports reporter but turned out to be a Catholic musician and speaker at the hand of God. She lives out of her suitcase and travels across the world speaking to people of all ages. The heart of her ministry is offering encouragement to teen girls in search of their true identity, and she loves ever second of it. You can find out more about her here.