In Ghana, in the continent of Africa, many members of a local tribe suffered from blindness. The cause of the blindness, it was discovered, was a mosquito that lived along the river banks and injected a parasite into the bloodstream of local fishermen. To eliminate the blindness, it was necessary to find a vaccine that would kill the parasite. A vaccine called ivermectin that kills the offspring of the parasites was developed and applied to the affected fishermen. The blindness disappeared.

There is blindness and blindness. Helen Keller was born without sight, but she wasn’t spiritually blind. “There is only one thing worse than being blind,” she said, and that is “having sight but no vision.”

Jesus offers the remedy to spiritual blindness which is a greater disease than physical blindness. In fact, He states in St. John’s gospel, chapter 9 : 39 that he “came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” A man who was born blind was cured by Jesus of his physical blindness, and by professing his faith in Him, was cured of spiritual blindness as well. This twice, fortunate man who received both the gift of sight and the gift of faith was a stumbling block to the Pharisees who had eyes but could not see (Mark 8:18).

The Pharisees were a mean-spirited lot who opposed Jesus’ act of giving sight back to a blind man because He cured him on the Sabbath. They did not realize that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2 : 27). They protested when Jesus exposed their hypocrisy, saying: “surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus let them know that, although they could see physically, they were indeed blind. He described them as “blind leaders, leading the blind.” (Matthew 15:14).

We need to take a good look at ourselves and ask what is the fly in the ointment of our lives that can blind us, spiritually, to the good news of the gospel? Is it pride? Is it lust? Is it hypocrisy? Is it irresponsible gossip? Is it greed? What is it? The height of human blindness, Jesus pointed out, is to glory in being spiritually blind. To reject the truth when it is staring you right in the face is what Jesus calls the sin against the Holy Spirit.

Many people do not want to see. They prefer to tailor the truth to serve their own selfish purposes. Look at what is gong on in the world of politics? Who can make anything of fake news, alternate facts, and partisan bickering flooding the media? What has become of simple honesty where a “yes” means yes, and a “no” means no? (Matthew 5:27). The blind Pharisees who persecuted a poor blind man, cured by Jesus, manipulated the law of the Sabbath to undermine and reject an act of incredible goodness. They were blinded by their own self-righteousness and, perhaps, by hatred and jealousy.

Be careful not to fall into the same trap.

To be open and receptive to the good news of the gospel, without being blinded by human forms of selfishness, is to be gifted with spiritual sight.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy