“Neither he nor his parents sinned, [but this happened] so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” -John 9: 3

Why is it so hard for people to see the good instead of the bad?. I mean, we’ve done things that we weren’t proud of but should we suffer ‘til the very end for that wrong doing?.

In the gospel the blind man became an instrument so that God can be visible to other people. Jesus made the blind man see not just for the benefit of the blind man but for other people as well. After seeing, the blind man believed in the Lord through Jesus. But despite his faith other people didn’t believe because no one believes a sinner.

Our clouded judgment towards other people and even towards ourselves makes us irrational. It makes us doubt other people’s ceredibility but who are we to judge? We are all equal in God’s eyes therefore we do not have the right to make other people feel low. We should be an instrument of the Lord to help lift other people up and not burry them six feet under. If we just  let the Lord be our eyes, there will never be wrong judgments and all we will see in everyone are the good things. God gave us eyes to see the best in people not to judge and make them feel inferior. I also think the main reason why other people never see the good in other people because no one ever saw the good in him. What we see and say towards other people can have an impact to their lives. It may be hard to see the good in the bad but having the Lord as our eyes can make us see the bright side.

- Jannah Aretaño 

Imagine living your life in total darkness for so many years. Being able to see is just a hopeless case. Then out of the blue, one Man whom you never knew would come to the rescue and bring brightness into your life. Amazing! Even having eyeglasses and contact lens could have been so amazing around their time, but giving sight to a man born blind (in just one day) is way awesome and unfathomable. 

Today’s Gospel story essentially talks about seeing Jesus as who he really is - our Lord and Savior. It is about realizing that we too can be like the blind man. Also, it is about acknowledging Christ into our lives, letting him turn our darkness into light and experiencing his healing as we build a deeper relationship with him.

When Jesus said “Neither he nor his parents sinned, [but this happened] so that the works of God might be made visible through him”, he was not only pertaining to the blindness of the man but everything that caused us to be blind of the truth (internal blindness).In some point in our lives, we realize that we are like this blind man. We are not perfect because we "were born with flaws". We are not capable to do the things we want to do. We may be poor in talent, social skills, or perhaps poor in faith. Sometimes, our pain and sufferings in life blind us to see the light (or the good side in life). We seem to have so many questions about our suffering that we become doubtful and distrustful.

But what Jesus said gives as an affirmation that everything we are experiencing has its reason. He affirms that God is purposive and that He has greater plans for us. Having weaknesses and experiencing pain had to be so that people might see the saving power of God at work in our lives.

This greater plan happened to the man born blind.

When Jesus healed the blind man, it was a news flash for everyone. Puwede na maging central story ng “The Buzz”. The formerly blind man confirmed to his neighbors na “ako to! Nakakakita na ako!” They were so surprised when they saw the man.  They couldn’t believe their eyes. He also told them that it was a man named Jesus who cured him. They became so curious on how this could happen and on Jesus’ identity. They wanted to know where Jesus came from and where he got this healing power. Because of this nag-sumbong yung mga curious neighbors sa Pharisees. The Pharisees too, were surprised and they felt threatened by his presence. They started speculating that Jesus was not from God because he did not keep the Sabbath holy and they ridiculed the cured man for being Jesus’ disciple. Pero pinagtanggol ng cured man si Jesus, affirming that he is from God, a faithful servant of God. The man said... “This is what is so amazing, that you (who think who knows everything) do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is faithful and does God’s will, God listens to him. It is unheard (as in "Never in the entire history"), did anyone open the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.”

In ancient times, the Pharisees were the know-it-all and highly respected persons. They were very strict with the law and they imposed heavy punishments on those who defy it. They always thought that they were the ones who were right; that is why they always wanted to push their belief on others. When the cured man told them how Jesus opened his eyes, it was an unusual event to them. They started throwing questions and speculations insisting that Jesus is a sinner. They were asking, but they were not listening because they were too busy pointing out their convictions. Sometimes we can be like the Pharisees, we try so hard to understand things and it is difficult for us to listen to what others have to say. This is usually caused by arrogance. We have become arrogant thinking that we know everything. Once we know the laws, the fundamentals, we feel superior and we wouldn’t let others change our own beliefs. Nevertheless, Jesus reminds us that we have to change this attitude. Blindness is not only about the external vision (with eyes), but most importantly, the internal vision (within our hearts).

When Christ introduced himself to the blind man, his whole life changed. He was able to see the light and he has come to know the Light. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. He gave the man a clearer vision to see the world but the true healing happened in his heart. The blind man now belonged to Christ. Since the day he was cured, he got so in love with Christ that he became his disciple, and he never grew tired on telling people that he was cured by him. He was going against the crowd, against the Pharisees, and even his parents. He proclaimed it daringly. He was not afraid of what other people said, because he knew the Truth. He then began to develop a deeper relationship with him based on his testimonies and conversation with Jesus. At first, Jesus was only a man whom he did not know, then a person he respected (Sir), then he professed that “He is a prophet”.  And when Jesus affirmed that he is the Son of Man, he believed in him and called him Lord.

And ever since Jesus healed him, his eyes were focused on Jesus. He was the one who turned his darkness into light.Naisip niya siguro… “Siguradong sigurado, there’s plenty of light to come kapag nakatutok pa ako kay Jesus.” He was assured that as long as he followed Christ, everything will be okay. He was drawn to him. He wanted to know him more and more, until he humbled himself, and called him as his Lord.

We have already let Jesus come into our lives by accepting that he is our Lord and Savior. We have joined the YE community to serve him and be an example to other people. That is why today, we are reminded once again to fulfill our vows to the Lord. We are challenged be like the cured man. Let us not be afraid on proclaiming that Jesus is our savior, yun naman ang totoo diba? Why should we hide the truth? I want my family, friends, and the people all over the world, to know that Christ has changed my life and that God is embracing me with his most abundant love. I want them to know this because I also want them to share a life with Lord. Let’s not keep this gift to ourselves. Instead, we should let others know that they too can have this life with the Lord. If we only humble ourselves and accept Christ as our way, truth and life. Also, like the cured man, we are encouraged to cultivate our relationship with the Lord by having daily sweet conversations with him in prayer and constant acts of mercy to our neighbors. J

"Let's bring a little heaven down on earth" :)

-Leizel Taton