«Simon! Andrew! Here I am… I am coming…» John is rushing towards them, panting. «Oh! Master! Have I kept You waiting?» John looks at Jesus with the eyes of a lover.
Peter answers: «To tell you the truth, I was beginning to think you were no longer coming. Get your boat ready quickly. And James?…»
«Well… we are late because of a blind man. He thought Jesus was in our house and he came there. We said to him: “He is not here. Perhaps He will cure you tomorrow. Just wait”. But he did not want to wait. James said to him: “You have been waiting so long to see the light, what does it matter if you have to wait another night?” But he will not listen to reason…»
«John, if you were blind, would you be anxious to see your mother?»
«Eh! .. most certainly!»
«Well then? Where is the blind man?»
«He is coming with James. He got hold of his mantle and will not let it go. But he is coming very slowly because the shore is covered with stones, and he stumbles against them… Master, will You forgive me for being hard?»
«Yes, I will, but to make amends, go and help the blind man and bring him to Me.»
John runs away.
Peter shakes his head, but does not say anything. He looks at the sky which is becoming blue after being a deep copper hue, he looks at the lake and the other boats which are already out fishing and he sighs.
«Simon?»
«Master?»
«Don’t be afraid. You will have a good haul, even if you are the last one to go out.»
«Also this time?»
«Every time you are charitable, God will grant you the grace of abundance.»
58.7 «Here is the blind man.»
The poor man is coming forward between James and John. He is holding a walking stick in his hand, but is not using it at present. He walks better, supported by the two men.
«Here, man, the Master is in front of you.»
The blind man kneels down: «My Lord! Have mercy on me.»
«Do you want to see? Stand up. How long have you been blind?»
The four apostles gather around the other two.
«Seven years, Lord. Before, I could see well, and I worked. I was a blacksmith at Caesarea on Sea. I was doing well. The harbour, the good trading, they always needed me for one job or another. But while striking a piece of iron to make an anchor, and You can imagine how red hot it was to be pliable, a splinter came off it, and burnt my eye. My eyes were already sore because of the heat of the forge. I lost the wounded eye, and also the other one became blind after three months. I have finished all my savings, and now I live on charity…»
«Are you alone?»
«I am married with three little children… ; I have not even seen the face of one of them… and I have an old mother. And yet she and my wife earn a little bread, and with what they earn and the alms I take home, we manage not to starve. If I were cured!… I would go back to work. All I ask for is to be able to work like a good Israelite and thus feed those I love.»
«And you came to Me? Who told you?»
«A leper who was cured by You at the foot of Mount Tabor, when You were coming back to the lake after that beautiful speech of Yours.»
«What did he tell you?»
«That You can do everything. That You are the health of bodies and of souls. That You are a light for souls and bodies, because You are the Light of God. He, although a leper, had dared to mingle with the crowd, at the risk of being stoned, all wrapped in his mantle, because he had seen You passing by on the way to the mountain, and Your face had kindled hope in his heart. He said to me: “I saw something in that face that whispered to me: ‘There is health there. Go!’ And I went”. Then he repeated Your speech to me and he told me that You cured him, touching him with Your hand, without any disgust. He was coming back from the priest after his purification. I knew him. I had done some work for him when he had a store at Caesarea. I came, asking for You in every town and village. Now I have found You… Have mercy on me!»
58.8 «Come. The light is still too bright for one coming out of darkness!»
«Are you going to cure me, then?»
Jesus takes him to Peter’s house, in the dim light of the kitchen garden, he places him in front of Himself, in such a position that his cured eyes may not see, as first sight, the lake still sparkling with light. The man looks like a very docile child, he obeys without asking questions.
«Father! Your Light to this son of Yours!» Jesus has stretched His hands over the head of the kneeling man. He remains in that position for a moment. He then moistens the tips of His fingers with saliva and with His right hand He lightly touches the open, but lifeless eyes.
A moment. Then the man blinks, rubs his eyelids as if he were awakening from sleep, and his eyes were dimmed.
«What do you see?»
«Oh!… oh!… oh!… Eternal God! I think… I think… oh! that I can see… I see Your mantle… it’s red, isn’t it? And a white hand… and a woolen belt… oh! Good Jesus… I can see better and better, the more I get used to seeing… There is the grass of the earth… and that is certainly a well… and there is a vine…»
«Stand up, My friend.»
The man who is crying and laughing, stands up, and after a moment’s hesitation between respect and desire, he lifts his face and meets Jesus’ eyes: Jesus smiling full of merciful love. It must be beautiful to recover your sight and see that face as the first thing! The man screams and stretches out his arms. It is an instinctive action. But he controls himself.
But Jesus opens His arms and draws to Himself the man who is much shorter than He. «Go home, now, and be happy and just. Go with My peace.»
«Master, Master! Lord! Jesus! Holy! Blessed! The light… I see… I see everything… There is the blue lake, the clear sky, the setting sun, and then the horns of the waxing moon… But it is in Your eyes that I see the most beautiful and clear blue, and in You I see the beauty of the most real sun, and the chaste light of the blessed moon. You are the Star of those who suffer, the Light of the blind, the living active Mercy!»
«I am the Light of souls. Be a son of the Light.»
«Yes, Jesus, always. Everytime I close my re-born eyes, I will renew my oath. May You and the Most High be blessed.»
«Blessed be the Most High Father! Go!»
And the man goes away, happy, sure of himself, while Jesus and the dumbfounded apostles get into two boats and begin their navigation manoeuvres.
And the vision ends.