THE VILLAGE

Wednesday in the 6th Week of the Ordinary Time
Mk 8:22-26

Sin is spiritual blindness. If sin is refusing God, the man who sins must be blind to the truth that he cannot live without him.

I do not doubt that the healing of the blind man in the Gospel today really did happen. But applying it to our lives, the lesson of the episode transcends physical or biological healing.

We, too, are blind when we sin. The Lord comes and touches us with His love. His loving touch heals us from our spiritual blindness. But when we have been healed, we should not forget His very important advice: “Do not go even into the village.”

“Do not go even into the village” – these were the words of Jesus to the man whose sight He restored. These are also His words to us whenever He restores us to grace. But what does “village” here means?

For the blind man, “village” means the place where he was once blind. It was more than a spot in a map. It was the whole condition he was in: darkness. It was the environment he moved about: darkness. It was handicap he suffered from: darkness.

For us, “village” means the occasions, the places, and even the people that once led him to sin, to his spiritual blindness. Once restored to grace, we should strive not to return to our former sinful ways. Unless we are strong enough to resist the temptations that once led us to sin, we need to stay away from the occasions, the places, and the people that can cause us to backslide. Otherwise, even if the Lord touches us twice, as He did to the blind man today, we will lose our sight again.