To see well, good eyesight alone is not sufficient. We must not think that blindness is an illness that affects the eyes only. There are many terms of blindness besides physical blindness. In some ways these are just as crippling. Father Flor McCarthy gives some examples:
Selfishness blinds us to the needs of others.
Insensitivity blinds us to the equal dignity of others.
Pride blinds us to our own faults.
Prejudice blinds us to the truth.
Hurry blinds us to the beauty of the world around us.
Superficiality blinds us to a person's true worth and causes us to judge by appearances.
And I might ad:
Ignorance blinds us to the fact that our opinion is not always the truth.
Inconvenience blinds us to our roles of responsibility.
It is not with the eyes only that we see. We also "see" with the mind, the heart and the imagination. A narrow mind, a small heart, a poor imagination - all of these lead to loss of vision, darken our lives and shrink our world.
It has been said that the greatest tragedy is not to be born blind, but to have eyes and yet fail to see. But there is an even worse situation: to have eyes and refuse to see - denial. This kind of blindness is a critical factor in all relationships - personal relationships, family relationships and the relationships of nations. To be in denial brings loss, failure and darkness. To see truly brings light and new life.
The Gospel story is essentially a faith story. The man went from physical blindness to being able to see - from darkness to light. He also progressed from darkness to spiritual light: "Lord, I believe."
I think it would be a worthwhile exercise to consider the relationships in our lives, both personal and spiritual, and make a determination of those areas where we may be blind by failing to see and those areas where we may be blind by refusing to see and then allow light into those relationships. We would be healing blindness like the Lord.
Father Riccio is pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Springfield