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(Jer.31:7-9;\xa0\xa0 Ps.126:1-6;\xa0 \xa0Heb.5:1-6;\xa0\xa0 Mk.10:46-52)\xa0 \u201cThey departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them.\u201d Through Jeremiah the Lord prophesies that His people Israel \u201cshall return as an immense throng,\u201d that He will \u201cgather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst.\u201d\xa0 And in our gospel we see Jesus \u201cleaving Jericho with His disciples and a sizable crowd,\u201d picking up the blind Bartimaeus along the way.\xa0 How the Lord fulfills the ancient prophecies.\xa0 And now Jesus stands as our high priest in heaven, \u201coffer[ing] gifts and sacrifices for sins,\u201d bringing all by His cross to the kingdom of God. \u201cThose that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.\u201d\xa0 Brothers and sisters, we are all like the blind Bartimaeus, sitting \u201cby the roadside begging,\u201d calling out to the Lord for forgiveness and guidance, saying to Him as He calls us before Himself, \u201cMaster, I want to see.\u201d\xa0 How blind we all are, how deaf and how lame.\xa0 How we need our vision renewed by the Lord of all, that indeed we might see as He sees, with a purity beyond the scope of our race, to penetrate the mysteries which shroud us like the blind man\u2019s cloak in this life.\xa0 We must throw off the darkness, cast aside the shroud of death that weighs upon our shoulders by our sins and take upon ourselves the cross of Christ and walk with Him \u201con the way,\u201d on the road to the New Jerusalem.\xa0 How shall we know the \u201cbrooks of water\u201d which satiate our thirst, \u201cthe torrents in the southern desert\u201d that cleanse our arid souls and bring them to life once more, except by the tears we cry, except with hearts reaching out and voices reaching up to Him who is so far above our ways?\xa0 In His way alone we will find the \u201clevel road\u201d on which \u201cnone shall stumble.\u201d\xa0 Only by this cry will we know the graces our high priest offers all our lives. \u201cAlthough [we] go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, [we] shall come back rejoicing, carrying [our] sheaves.\u201d\xa0 For the Lord shall not forget us; He will not pass us by and leave us in our tears alone.\xa0 But through our tears we shall see His holy light descend like a dove of peace upon our souls.\xa0 Yes, we shall see; our eyes will be opened and our path will be set.\xa0 And He shall guide us every step of our way.\xa0 And \u201cour mouth [will be] filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing\u201d on that holy Day.\xa0 Praise our merciful God! Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "No Paranoia" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us follow Jesus on the way to the Cross that we might follow Him to Heaven. YHWH, in Jesus your Son we are returned to sonship with you; we who had been exiled because of our sins are brought back to your presence, and as a Father you embrace us and open our eyes to see your glory. Restore our fortunes, O LORD.\xa0 In tears we come before you, to your Son we cry out for mercy, and He cannot but hear and answer our call, He cannot but call us before Himself and grant the desire of our heart.\xa0 O let us have the faith needed to believe in Him and so find the blessing only He holds. Jesus, you are our high priest, you are Son of David and Son of God.\xa0 Let us run to you for healing of our blindness and lameness that we might see you and follow you along the way to the New Jerusalem.\xa0 In the peace of the Father let us rest, in the joy of our salvation. With all your saints let us enter your gates, O Father in Heaven, by the grace that comes to us in your only Son.