By Manoj Kulanthai Rathinam G, CSC –
Readings: 1Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41
“Do not see just with your eyes, perceive with your heart.” This is the message we receive from the readings of the day. Today’s reading speaks of contrast between the human way of seeing and God’s way of looking at the reality.
In the first reading, God chooses David to be the king of Israel. Samuel saw the outer appearance of the persons, but God looked at the heart. That is how God chose a small boy David. In the Gospel reading, disciples asked Jesus, after seeing a blind man, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”
Each of us see things as it appears, but we do not observe the essence of it. A friend of mine, who is so good at relating and enjoying the company of others, went for a relationship-oriented job interview, and was not selected. I asked him, ‘what happened?’ He replied, ‘the interviewer said, I cannot do the job because I do not know how to relate to people.’ Now, whose problem was it, the interviewer or my friend? In today’s context, we judge people through the way they appear, but we do not experience the values held by them.
In our religious communities, we easily fool people based on their appearances, but we do not realize we are conveying something bad. During this Lenten season let us try to examine ourselves, whether we talk to people based on their physical attributes and neglect the heart. Let us seek the grace of God to be open to the reality of the world, and to perceive from our hearts.