In 2013, I decided to participate in the Ignation exercises, also known as the 19th Annotation. Despite what it may seem, it had nothing to do with pilates, cross fit or yoga. Instead, for thirty weeks, I was guided through a series of daily prayers and other spiritual exercises designed by St. Ignatius Loyola to deepen participants' relationship with God. Along with our group and individual work, each participant was assigned a guide to prayer to help you process your experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Prayer leaders usually consisted of lay people and staff members of the Spiritual Renewal Center who had previously participated in the exercises and were willing to be part of the process again. Now, because I was a priest and because I was already a qualified spiritual director, I was assigned to Sister Maurice May. Sister Maurice spent her entire adult life as a member of the Sisters of St. Francis. After years of teaching and running Catholic schools in Maryland, he is now retired and living at his motherhouse in Syracuse. The sister had a reputation for being a harsh spiritual director. Unlike the secular staff members, the sister had the ability to focus on the spiritual issues at hand and then ask the difficult questions while looking at you as if she were looking straight into your heart. This is what made Sister Maurice so unique. She could see things that no one else would ever notice even though she was blind. Physically all he could see with his "good" eye was light and shadow, but with both eyes he could see deep into his heart and see the very things the director didn't want to see. This morning we heard the story of Jesus healing a blind man. Once again, the sighted, the Pharisees along with much of the crowd, who could literally see Jesus of Nazareth, were blind to the fact that he is the Son of God. The blind man, however, could not see Jesus, but he did not have trouble seeing who Jesus is. What is even more fascinating about this particular story is that, even after Jesus restores the blind man's sight, the Pharisees continue to refuse to believe in who Jesus is as they cower and complain about how Jesus violated the Sabbath when he gave sight to the blind man. How many of us have found ourselves in the midst of a revelation, but when that revelation sheds light on something we would rather not see, we literally turn a blind eye to what might make us uncomfortable? This is what our Gospel this morning addresses and what Saint Paul also addresses in his letter to the Ephesians. Read in contrast to this morning's Gospel, Saint Paul changes the metaphor of blindness into the metaphor of light and darkness. Then he exalts us to be children of light. What Paolo asks us to do seems simple, we all like to live in the light, at least during the summer when the days are long and the air is warm. However, there is a problem not only in living in the light but in being children of the light. Light illuminates things, helps us see more clearly the flaws in our lives and the evil that surrounds this world. As children of light, Paul asks us to shed light on the darkness of the world, to reveal injustice, to bring attention where God is not there. Sometimes we can feel good when we feel empowered to make change and maybe even make the world a better place to live. And there are times when what we discover overwhelms us and on some level can even immobilize us. In the documentary Traces of the Trade, Katrina Browne explores the untold story of her family's past..