A friend of mine organizes a
novena to Saint Bartholomew via Facebook each August. I’m glad to be included,
because for nine days, I have to carve out—oh—five to 15 minutes to say the
prayers, examine the art works accompanying the posts and contemplate the
significance of that day’s devotion.
Yeah, some days, even five
minutes is monumental, as you get wound up in this and that. But I do my best,
even if I end up doubling up some days.
(For those unfamiliar with the
novena, it’s a ritual of intercessory prayers across nine days, typically
culminating on the day a particular saint is recognized in the liturgical
calendar. It can be performed alone, or in the company of others. There’s an
introduction, a novena prayer constant to all nine days and a prayer specific
to each day. Then there are concluding prayers.)
Every year a phrase of the
Saint Bart novena catches me up: “May [the saint’s] prayers obtain for us every
grace and blessing we need in our lives, and we thank you for the graces you
have already granted us through his intercession, especially those
which have come unasked and unlooked for.” [Emphasis mine.]
Graces and blessings that
come unasked and unlooked for. Huh.
How many of these surround us,
filling our lives with joy and comfort? Graces and blessings we didn’t think to
ask for, which surprise us every day in ways large and small? What would our
lives be like without them? An unexpected call from a friend, watching a puppy
squirm and wriggle in a pile of leaves, the first sip of a perfect latte,
arriving safely home through urban traffic—I typically don’t think to ask for
these things, and while I do try to acknowledge them when I encounter them, I
don’t think I could be said to look for them.
I wonder how many of them have
slipped past me in my worrisome fugue every day?
Every year this prayer reminds
me that I am in fact engulfed by graces and blessings, whether I’ve asked for
them or even notice them. Every year I’m stopped cold by this reminder.
But this year I was also
struck by a phrase from the prayer for day nine, Saint Bartholomew’s Day (which
is today, as it happens): “O Glorious Saint Bartholomew, when you met Jesus you
recognized him as the Son of God and the King of Israel. Pray for us that we
may always recognize Jesus when we meet him.” [Emphasis mine.]
Well.
Um.
Now—this is only my
interpretation, mind, and YMMV—but, I’m thinking that the Jesus we might meet
these days could appear in, well, any form, really. If we limit ourselves to
just humans, given how he manifested the last time—an itinerant Jew who relied on
the kindness of strangers to provide him with food and shelter and did not
build mega-churches, get around Galilee on the biblical equivalent of limos and
private jets or exchange blessings for credit card details—it seems logical to
me that 2026—Jesus might look dark-skinned as well as light; could shine
through a woman’s face; may perhaps be found in a refugee camp seeking children
forcibly pulled away from parents; might have been hauled out of a car on the
city streets by ICE agents; possibly suffers from a pre-existing medical
condition.
In short—we can’t rely upon
the Almighty to publicize the arrival of Jesus (or even on Saint B to give us
guidance in this), so we ought to be on the lookout for him or her or
non-binary them…well, everywhere, really. In the supermarket, on Metro, at work
(although—and this is just me being me—probably not in the boardroom or the
executive suite; I could be wrong), in school, along the bike lane, out in the
woods. We should be alert and receptive to him/her/them and maybe not get
pissed off when they’re in the express lane with more than 15 items, or
panhandling at an intersection, or wearing shabby clothes or don’t seem to be
able to control their kids—which I recognize is not necessarily easy. At least,
it isn’t for me.
However, by looking for Jesus
everywhere, by seeking out the good and the godly and inviting these graces and
blessings into our lives, I believe we can become a conduit for them to those
around us; we can help bring them—unasked and unlooked for—to those around us. Idea: we could be the grace.
And this is my grace—my
gratitude—for today.
©2026 Bas Bleu
