Isaiah's prophecy will be fulfilled in us if we let the Lord open our eyes and clear our ears from all prejudices.

Sunday, 9/9/12

Our first reading tells us that when the Lord comes:

 “The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.”

My sister Peggy had eight daughters, and Nancy, the oldest of them, is totally blind.  Having heard that Nancy was active in organizations for the blind and the deaf, and with today’s reading being about such people, two days ago I called Nancy to learn something about being blind and deaf.

Right off she told me that only her deaf friends are really handicapped. She said, “Not being able to see hasn’t been so bad. I am always forming pictures of people and scenes the way anyone else does when they are reading a novel.”

Let me tell you how Nancy became blind. Her brothers were all soccer players, and Nancy, well into her forties, was still mixing it up with them. That foolishness led to her breaking a leg, and when she was in the hospital a nurse alerted her to a swelling behind her left eye. It led to a series of operations that have left her totally blind these last seventeen years.

On the phone Nancy said, “Many seeing people are more blind than I am.” She explained that like this. She is introduced to someone who has a warm hand grasp and a pleasing voice, and they strike up a lasting friendship.

Then, afterwards she hears people putting her new friend down. They talk about all the weight that woman has put on, and they talk about the really awful way she dresses. Nancy said, “Honestly, Uncle Tom, those people can’t see the beauty of my friend. That makes them the blind ones.”

Isaiah said, “The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.”

That prophesy will be fulfilled in us if we let the Lord clear away our prejudices, if we let him show us the beauty of the souls for whom we have never had time.