“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” That question hit home for me. Unbeknownst to my parents or the doctors involved, I had a stroke at birth, which caused my hearing loss. To think that either was the consequence of their sins or mine never entered our minds when I was a child. Instead of seeing my condition as a divine punishment, my mom’s explanation resonated with what Jesus said to the disciples. “It is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
No one here is literally blind, but in any number of ways we may be spiritually blind, so what was said of the blind man could be said of us as well. “It is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
When a child is baptized, a godparent is handed a candle, lit from the Easter candle and given the command, “Receive the light of Christ.” Then the child is told, “You have been enlightened by Christ. Walk always as a child of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your heart. When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.”
We are often reminded of our baptismal mission in the closing line at Mass following the blessing, when we are instructed to “go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” And we do that best by loving and serving others.
But doing that doesn’t always come easy. In fact, being an obvious follower of Christ can at times be costly. Think of the Christians being persecuted for their faith in the Middle East. According to Arthur Schlesinger, a renowned historian, anti-Catholicism is still a very real prejudice in our country. Just as the blind man’s parents feared hostile repercussions from the Pharisees if they admitted Jesus was the Christ, many Catholics today are reluctant to outwardly admit their faith, much less place their utmost trust in God.
Sometimes when we find ourselves in a moral dilemma, we opt to take the path that ruffles the least feathers. Many Catholics go with the flow even if the issue at hand is morally wrong. A good example would be their stance on abortion; another is their inclination to skip Sunday Mass, which could lead them toward becoming a fallen away Catholic.
Lenten is a time to embrace God’s truth so that we can make the moral choices we must with courage, insight, and faith. Your eyesight may be 20-20 according to an optician, but how is your spiritual vision?
With the passing of time, both our spiritual and moral vision can become clouded, like eyes often do with cataracts. Ask those who have had them and they will tell you that their dimming eyesight was so gradual that they did not realize what was happening to them. Likewise, the shift for us in our spiritual vision can be so gradual that we fail to see the sin in our lives and its consequences or appreciate the fullest beauty of our Catholic faith.
We may have a more chronic case of spiritual blindness than we realize. While none of our physical limitations such as my hearing impairment would be caused by sin, sin does cause us to be spiritually impaired. Recall Jesus’ rebuttal to the Pharisees, who deemed themselves as holy, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘we see.’ So your sin remains.” Their sin of pride blinded themfrom seeing what was ultimately good, despite all they claimed to know. They refused to hear, much less grasp the truth God has for them and for us. The greatest of all disorders is to think we are whole, and need no help.
Paul noted that we once lived in darkness. That is, we were ignorant of the good news. Now he urges us to live as children of the light for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness. A good starting point would be for us to deal with our habits and values that limit our vision of God. How much of God we see really depends on how we view the reality of sin in our lives.
A moment ago, I mentioned the capital sin of pride, which blinded the Pharisees from trusting in God’s goodness. If pride weren’t our sin, then we would trust in God and be humble enough to accept God’s ways. If greed isn’t our sin, then we would be free to share the many gifts God has given us. If lust weren’t our sin, then we would be inclined to respect the dignity of others. If gluttony weren’t our sin, then we would be blessed with discipline and self-control. If sloth isn’t our sin, we would be motivated to make a difference rather than remain apathetic. If envy isn’t our sin, we would be grateful for what we have, filled with love instead of jealousy. If anger weren’t our sin, then we would experience serenity, peace and gentleness. Any of these seven deadly sins when they control us can do havoc to our relationships with others and with God, leaving us anxious.
Lent is a time for conversion, for us to open our eyes, acknowledge our sins, and to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, thus see the grace and love of God. Such a vision of faith enables us to shatter the darkness of injustice and hatred with the light of justice, love, and compassion. Imagine how different our world will be when we consciously strive to “take no part in the fruitless works of darkness.” This we do when we are willing to proclaim the good newsthrough our deeds and words. To paraphrase Jesus, God made us who we are so that the works of God may be made visible through us.