BEING BLIND TO SEE THE TRUTH

Year A 
March 22, 2020

I was looking at my Facebook account and I was trying to see what are the different postings and messages that people are putting into their account. I found some amusing and downright funny posting. I was appalled by some who intentionally or unintentionally added to the confusion by sending out messages that are fake news and at times insensitive to the gravity of the situation. At the same time I found messages that appears prophetic by quoting from the book of the Prophets in the Bible and condemns the present generation for their sins and points out that COVID-19 is God’s punishment for the sins of the people. 

Before I make a comment on such message, let us listen to the words of the Gospel today: 

“As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.’”

We are too quick to judge the situation of others by the end result of their lives today. When we see bad things happening in their lives we always conclude that it is a result of their bad habits, wrong decisions, or something that they deserved. We may be “correct” in our judgment if we know the person. We always see their “bad fortune” as a result of something they have done wrong.

If we are only looking at God in terms of reward and punishment, we may even be correct in our statement. But there is also something that the Old Testament writers were grappling to understand – “Why do just and good people suffer and the evil doers prosper? If God is good, why does He allow evil to continue? If God is powerful, why is He not intervening to prevent disaster to happen to the innocent?” These are just some of the many questions that do not have clear answers. The books of Job and of the prophet Jonah are but some of the books in the Bible that tried to pierce into the mystery of suffering and evil. Did they have the complete answer? No! They only provided a way of looking at the reality and provide a way of seeing God who is at work in and through these situations. But still some questions remains.

Jesus was confronted by the same age old question confronting human misery. “Who sinned – this man or his parents?” Infirmities were seen as God’s punishment for sins committed. Good health is a reward for being good and just. But the response of Jesus surprised the disciples – “Neither he or his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” 

While it is true that God can make use of nature to punish the sinfulness of man, it would be wrong to totally ascribe to what is happening as an act of God. There are so many things that happen which are products of acts of man. We created or helped create the situation. 

To continue on these arguments will only detract us from what we should be focusing. 

       What I realize during the past week are the following:
       We can only appreciate the star when it is dark. 
       We can only experience that longing for something or
             someone when it is withhold from us or when we become apart. 
       We only become aware of the value of something or someone until we lose them. 
       We can only deeply understand our need for another until we realize our limitations. 
       We become more secure when we are together. 
       We see human kindness at its best when we are in our worst situations. 
       We are able to see what we can still do when we are faced with restriction. 
       We become more imaginative and creative. 
       We grow inwardly in order to empower our capacity to do something.
       We became more contemplative since we have nothing more to do
              but raise our thoughts and our hearts to God. 
       We are able to go beyond what is humanly possible
              to surpass the challenges that we face. 
       We became more connected to those that really matter. 
       We have become more sensitive to the needs of others. 
       We have learned to put our selfishness, our pride,
             and our egocentric mentality behind for the good of all. 
       We realized that it is better to light just one little candle than curse the darkness.

These are silver linings that I am able to see as go through this together. These helped us see beyond the blindness that this situation creates. This is God’s grace that is at work in you and me. 

When all we do is complain, we fail to see the beautiful realities that are emerging. We become blind. We become depressed. We become negative. 

God is giving us an opportunity to see the situation as an opportunity to rediscover:
       - those things, those opportunities, and those people that we take for granted; 
       - those that we never noticed because we were too busy doing other things;
       - the beauty of those moments to be together and make it better;
       - the need to change our attitudes and way of living;
       - the magic of creativeness and thinking outside the box;
       - the invitation to deepen our faith even when we do not see the end of the tunnel; 
                to strengthen our hope to see beyond the realities that obscure our vision;
                and to expand our capacity to love; but above all, 
       - the call to be still and to listen, to pray and to contemplate,
                to discover God in a new way, and to know Him intimately.

As we continue our living our life within the context of social distancing, may we rediscover the path to wholeness, healing, and sense of oneness with God and our neighbor. 

Let us become God’s instrument to help others see. Let us not muddle and obscure the vision of hope. Let us become the dirt that Jesus combined with his spittle that helps to open the eyes that are blind. Let the water of grace wash away those that keeps us from seeing.