spiritual blindness
"Some people brought Him a blind man." —Mark 8:22
Because of our sin, we are all spiritually blind to some degree. We probably are even blind to being blind, so we won't even ask Jesus to heal our blindness. Other Christians will have to see our blindness, bring us to Jesus, and beg Him to touch us (Mk 8:22).
Jesus is more than willing to restore our sight and answer the prayer of our Christian brothers and sisters, but we must cooperate. When Jesus takes our hands and leads us, we must follow (Mk 8:23). When He puts spittle on our eyes and lays His hands on us, we must trust Him, even if we don't understand what He's doing (Mk 8:23). When Jesus asks us: "Can you see anything?" (Mk 8:23), we must repent of denying our blindness and tell Jesus the truth.
Finally, after Jesus heals us, we must obey Him by not going where He forbids us to go and by going where He tells us to go (see Mk 8:26). We can be healed of spiritual blindness "with a little help from our friends." Yet we must cooperate by following Jesus, trusting Him, telling Him the truth, and obeying Him. Jesus will heal us if we let Him.
Prayer: Father, I repent of blinding myself (see Is 29:9) by following my sinful desires (2 Cor 4:4).
Promise: "As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." —Gn 8:22
Praise: Paula denied her addiction until God opened her eyes and empowered her to deny herself, take up her cross, and follow the Way.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape Spiritual Blindness on audio AV 65-1 or video V-65.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 11, 2008
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.