John 9: 1-41

According to the World Health Organization a few years back, there were 285 million people estimated to be visually impaired worldwide. That is, 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. About 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in low-income settings. 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above.

Due to this, we know from the statistics that it is not easy to deal with blindness in life. In St.John’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus healing a blind person.

Other than physical blindness, there are things in life that we can be blind to. Three of these include:

1. We can be blind to God’s goodness. All of us have our crosses in life and at times it can be very heavy. We must realize that there is still so much to be grateful for, to the Lord. Always look at the big picture and be hopeful.
   
2. We can be blind to the will of the Lord. All of us are here on earth because God has a plan. How we wish it was so easy to know the plan of God. There is a saying, “Everything happens for a reason and purpose” and that “God is good.” Hence, for all the events, even the trials, God has a plan. We just have to trust Him one step at a time.
   
3. We can be blind to the goodness of people. It just takes one betrayal or one event of unfaithfulness for us to lose trust. How do we pick up the pieces in our lives and trust again? Hence the words of Christ to Peter on forgiving, “not 7 times but 70 x 7 times.”

The eyes are useless when the heart is hardened. Hence how true are words in the book Little Prince, “The heart sees what is essential in life.” God is good, He has a plan for each of us, and yes, forgiveness is the only way we can move on in life.