Blind from birth

‘It is for judgement

that I have come into this world,

so that those without sight may see

and those with sight turn blind.’

John 9:39

I've been around for a while, and yet it is always a delightful surprise when some new insight into the Gospel, or my own life, or the life our schools reveals itself.

Teaching in a government school, I find the children are just as eager, just as open to learning as they are everywhere in our world. But what I find missing is the way we begin and end our days, and even punctuate it with Word and prayer, look constantly towards a higher authority for guidance and hope. My daughter-in-law -  who is not Catholic - drops our grandson Benjamin off at school each day. He attends Sacred Heart in Ulverstone. She is a government school teacher herself. She commented to me the other day. 'You can really tell the difference between a government school and a Catholic school. It's that identity, that ethos that permeates the whole school.'

It struck me then, how blasé we can be in our Catholic schools. You need to know that the difference is palpable and felt!

When we have these insights - and they can come fast and furiously in the classroom, they change the way we perceive our role and our students, and transform our practice. These insights can be spontaneous, learned or caught! Nevertheless at many times in our lives these insights are ignored or unrecognised. There are many reasons why this occurs, but this blindness to openness, to change, to transformation can keep us in darkness.

When Jesus heals the blind man (John 9:1 - 41), it is not one act that brings the man sight: the man is brought to Jesus' attention by his disciples; Jesus makes a paste from mud and saliva which he puts on the man's eyes; at Jesus' direction he washes in the pool of Siloam; he declares he is a disciple of Jesus and gives witness to him. When the pharisees throw him out, it is Jesus himself who seeks him out, and when they encounter he worships Jesus.

Spiritual blindness is the failure to see Jesus - in every gracious act, in other human beings, in the wonder of our created world, in the marvel of human creativity and technology. He is already there, he will never leave. But if I want to change those parts of me that cause me pain and anxiety, I have to see the new reality where Jesus is clearly present. The centre of real change (and this my insight this week) is Jesus. Millions of words have been written about Jesus at the centre or heart of what we do, but to take it seriously means not just believing as if it requires assent, it is knowing that he is the change agent that encourages, invites, impels us. When I know this I become available, just like the (former) blind man, Jesus can act on me and through me because I am his disciple, I have no fear in declaring my faith and my ultimate response is to give him worship.

Peter Douglas

A cheerful heart

by Jill Lemming

To make our lives more meaningful,
it takes a cheerful heart...
and loving life and living it
each day as a brand new start.

It takes a positive attitude
when trials come our way...
and having the strength to carry on
and taking the time to pray.

Life is what we make it,
for the time that we are here...
so start each day with a cheerful heart
and see miracles appear.

Look to God

By Laura Strickland

When your heart is tired
And your soul is weak
Look to God
He’ll help you see
That life has reason
And life has rhyme
Though we don’t see it
All of the time

Trust in God
Hold on to faith
He’ll take your hand
And guide the way
To calmer waters
And brighter days
Your heart will heal
The pain will fade

Look to God
Trust in him too
He’s always there
To look after you.