by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM October 4, 2026
“God, help me to see” is a common prayer. Seeing not just with physical eyes but with the eyes of the heart. The fullness of seeing can be revealed a bit in small, thoughtful actions, like wiping the film off the windshield of a car for a sparkling view of what’s ahead. Or larger events, like cataract surgery, after which patients often exclaim with delight over the newfound vibrancy of color and sharpness of lines, wondering in amazement at all they might have missed when their vision was clouded.
Recently I nodded in agreement as I read Godfrey Chips’ remark about another way of seeing. “I’m the spirit’s janitor,” he wrote. “All I do is wipe the windows a little bit so you can see out for yourself.” That sounds like the ministry of spiritual direction in which we’re accompanied by a spiritual guide in reflecting on our relationship with the Holy One in the midst of the stuff of our lives. Clearly, there’s some labor involved in all the aspects of greater vision, whether it’s the labor of rubbing a cloth on glass, the labor of a practiced surgeon clearing away what obstructs sight, or the deep, inner soul work that is part of our spiritual growth.
Lately, I’ve been re-visiting “The Diary of Jesus Christ,” a creative re-imagining of stories from the life of Jesus by Bill Cain, SJ. One of the chapters, “Blind Bart,” speaks to a new way of seeing (Mark 10:46-52). Cain imagines that once Bartimaeus can see, he’s stunned by the newfound beauty of everything around him. He runs like a crazy man from person to person in the crowd, trying to figure out who is who. “A woman is crying because Bartimaeus is telling her how unimaginably beautiful she is. And she’s crying because she’s an old woman now and on the best day of her life she probably wasn’t anyone’s idea of beauty.”
A puzzled Bartimaeus asks Jesus, “They don’t know, do they…how beautiful they are?” No, responds Jesus, but he clearly does. And he advises Bartimaeus, “Keep looking at them. Seeing their beauty. And letting them see their beauty through you.”
On this feast of our beloved brother, Francis of Assisi, we’re reminded of our call to behold beauty in others and ourselves through the lens of God’s eyes. Galway Kinnell offers us a tender image of how Francis extended the scope of his vision to include all of creation in the poem, “St. Francis and the Sow.” Let this be our work as well: To reteach others their loveliness. To retell them in words and in touch they are lovely. To do this again and again until they flower from within of self-blessing. May that be so, and may that be said of us, today and always.
Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
Reflect on someone you know who might need a reminder of their own loveliness.
As you hold them in tenderness and prayer, affirm their beauty.
In what ways might you reteach them how the Holy One sees them?
May both you and they flower from within of self-blessing.
Featured Images: Johannes Krupinski, Unsplash; Laura Anderson, Unsplash
NOTE:
Thank you for your prayerful remembrance of me during my retreat at Villa Maria in Stone Harbor, NJ. Know that you were held specially in my heart and in my prayer that each of us might nurture beauty and protect beauty in all of God’s creation.
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