In his teachings Jesus often makes use of natural elements and ordinary situations as a springboard for delivering his message. Last Sunday he made use of the analogy of water, an element universally considered vital for life.
On other occasions we have seen Jesus making use of agricultural elements such as fields, trees and wheat. Today's Gospel message is centred around light, an element very often mentioned in most New Testament writings.
We have heard many times the story about the blind man who was healed by Jesus as a reward for his faith. We cannot imagine the world around us without the existence of light, nor can we imagine the painful situation of a man, who is blind from birth, like the humble protagonist of today's Gospel narrative.
As if his blindness had not already been a source of much pain and inconvenience, because he was also a beggar as the Gospel clearly indicates, he now has to face the Pharisees whose attitude against Jesus has by now been gaining momentum.
This, however, was too much for them. They even summoned the poor man's parents, who testified that their son had been born blind. Finding themselves so utterly defeated, they threw the man out of the synagogue in the hope that the whole matter would be dead and buried.
If we penetrate deeply enough into the long narrative about the blind man cured by Jesus, I am sure that somehow or other we would discover our own image there.
With the eyes of our faith we believe that Jesus is our Saviour and Lord. But then is God's image reflected sharply enough in our lives? If we are not entirely blind to God's reality within us and perhaps also deaf to his promptings within our own consciences, how generous are we in our efforts to please God and not to be blind to the real needs of others?
Christians today, including ourselves, should from time to time try to become aware of their own blindness as far as the knowing of God's will and the strength to do it is concerned. We cannot deny that spiritual blindness, even among Christians, is still rampant today.
Recent and not so recent Church pronouncements have rejected the use of violence in the name of God. They have condemned racism and preached tolerance for other religions. Past history, as we know, is unfortunately replete with Church-sanctioned violence, racial prejudice and religious intolerance.
Such occurrences are fortunately today only a part of history. They have long been superseded by the dedication of many Christians, in their efforts to spread the Christian faith among the many peoples who have till now remained blind to the existence of Jesus Christ in history and to his redemptive love.
And this is true also on the human level: who can count all that the Church has been doing for centuries to alleviate the sufferings of innocent people in so many missionary territories and underdeveloped countries?
A saying goes that the situation of those "who do not want to see" is worse than that of those who "cannot" see. We Christians have received the gift of the Christian faith which should enable us to look into our own conscience to discover God's will in our regard and receive the necessary help to do it.
When we become conscious enough of our own spiritual blindness, or when we begin to discover that our spiritual vision is becoming somewhat blurred, Jesus is always there, or around the corner, always ready to enlighten us and to heal us from our spiritual short-sightedness.