One item that most people carry with them on the Camino de Santiago is a hiking headlamp - very useful for those times when walking in the dark - very early in the morning - late at night after sundown. It is also handy for those times when you have to move around the albergue in the night - after lights out. Making sure you can easily see where you are walking - avoiding objects - obstacles - that would cause you to trip - stumble - while on your Camino. Nothing could be worse than attempting to walk - blind - not being able to see where you are headed.
In today's Gospel - we hear the story of the man born blind - forced to be immobile - to sit - to beg - to rely on others. Jesus' disciples ask if it was his parents' or the man himself who sinned - who caused the blindness. Jesus replied - neither - rather that it was in God's plan - to allow a natural disability - not a sin - to be used to make the works of God visible through him. Many people suffer from blindness - spiritual blindness - their own desires - leading them away from God - away from His plan - to follow designs of others - to build their own reality - not God's. In relying on themselves - not God - they unwittingly create a thirst for the truth - in those around them - in themselves. It is only through the real presence of God - that light may be shined on their hearts - that their blindness be removed - their thirst quenched - that they follow the One Lord - Jesus - to wholeness.
Deacon Dale
Deacon Dale
