Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

Am I blind?

Blindness is the loss of vision or sight. It is ‘the state of being unable to see due to injury, disease or genetic condition.’ Blindness does not just refer to the physical inability to see. In the Bible, it also refers to spiritual blindness.

We can boast that we see, we know, and we understand. Yet, we can still be spiritually blind. More often than not, we close our eyes and are blind to our suffering Lord in the cry of the poor, in the plight of the voiceless, in the loneliness of the forsaken, and in the agony of those around us.

Our Lord Jesus has time and again warned us of our spiritual blindness [Jn 9: 41], “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

How blind am I?

Perhaps we are not totally blind, but most of us do not have perfect vision. Impaired vision is ‘the decrease in the ability to see’.

• • We could have selective vision: we choose to only see what we want to see. Entertaining ourselves with violent videos or games (like ‘Squid Game’), feasting our eyes on pornographic materials, and constantly poisoning our minds with misinformation or fake news… are examples of selective vision. It can cause severe and lasting damage to our souls.

• • We could have blurred vision: the distractions and temptations of this world could cloud our vision and prevent us from seeing and seeking Truth as it is. The standard of this world is often in contradiction and incompatible with the Standard of Christ. If we are not discerning enough, we will exchange God for pitiful substitutes, and our journey to God will be distracted, disrupted and derailed.

• • We could have distorted vision: our conscience can be ill-formed and distorted due to our upbringing, past experiences and societal norms. When we ask what colour an object is, the answer is not as simple as we think – it depends very much on what light we are using to see the object. Under the red light, everything looks reddish. Under the yellow light, everything looks yellowish. When our inner moral compass is skewed, biased and distorted, we will not be able to make a right moral decision or a good spiritual discernment.

“Master, let me see again!” [Mk 10: 51]

Due to the effects of our sinfulness, all of us are either blind or visually impaired. Only God can help us see again. And only through the eyes of faith and in the light of Jesus Christ, can we see God face-to-face as He truly is.

As Christians, this is our only goal here on earth: to gear towards the eternal union with God where we can see Him face-to-face eternally. This is the beatific vision (blessed vision or happy vision) which every Christian must aspire for. God is the source of our blessedness, happiness and joy. Seeing Him makes us blessed, happy and joyful.

Even though we cannot enjoy fully the beatific vision until the end of time, we can still experience the foretaste of the beatific vision here on earth. God is omnipresent; He is Emmanuel (God-with-us); He can be found here and now – in us, with us and around us. We should be training and preparing ourselves to ‘find God in all things’ [St Ignatius of Loyola], to see that God is actively present in our lives. With God’s grace, let us start stripping away anything that blocks or blurs our vision of God, so that at the end of life we may enjoy the full beatific vision, our eternal union with Him.

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may see You.”