Whenever we experience physical limits or sickness in life we can tell a story about our own worth. The link between our body and our spirit is at the heart of the Gospel for this weekend. We can start to tell ourselves a story not only about our illness but also about ourselves. There can be a tendency to make ourselves into a disease rather than a person who is called to live with a disease. This is where we can become mixed up between what causes our ill health, the reality of suffering with the daily effects of that condition, and the reality that we are called to be whole in ourselves.
We see this in the way that Jesus responds to the man born blind. He not only seeks to remedy his physical condition but also his social isolation which has forced him into a life of begging. The healing is more than just physical healing but also societal healing that restores him to the community. We witness that the person is restored to his original dignity where Jesus sees him not just his sickness.
This is the challenge of any religious community we seek to become people who are suffering. This is helping us to orientate ourselves towards the other for the good of the other. Our communities are not called to become clubs for the saved but field hospitals for those in need. In this way, we witness the relationship that is at the heart of any healing, an encounter with the person of Jesus. He looks at us as we look at him.
We discover that especially in our own age we can be liberated from what blinds and binds us. We discover a truth that transforms our day and restores our dignity. We witness to the incarnate presence of Jesus who restores us in thanksgiving for the person we can become.
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