Sight divine

In today’s Gospel miracle, the all-merciful and loving Jesus gave sight to a man of faith who was physically blind (Mk. 10: 46-52). You and I may not be suffering from physical blindness, but there are other forms of blindness that we may need to be healed from, like intellectual, psycho-emotional, or spiritual blindness.

Take this wife-and-mother who always insists on her own ways and ideas, and not able to listen with empathy to the other members of the family - from her husband to her youngest child. Intellectual arrogance is intellectual blindness.

What about this husband who hears his wife’s words, but does not listen to her inner loneliness and hunger for affection. “I need you more now that we are getting older, and the children are gone with families of their own,” she would say. “You are getting sentimental again, dear,” would be his way of cutting short the conversation. Psycho-emotional blindness indeed.

There is this successful businessman who goes to Mass on Sundays, contributes a little to charity, and callously underpays his employees. Lastly but not least is this politician who accepts bribes in the name of pakikisama and does not feel guilt. Yes — moral-spiritual blindness.

But it is never too late to surrender to the Lord in faith, receive His sight divine, so that we can follow Him all the way till the end of our lives. Empowered by Christ’s sight divine, we can then “see” life as he does, and love life as he does. From sight divine to love divine.

We thus learn to “see” and love God’s sacred presence in our lives, and in all of life all around us. To “see” God’s presence in the sun, the plants, the flowers, the trees, the birds, and in every person near and far. Christ’s healing presence beyond human frailty, sinfulness, and crime.

It is in this spirit that today we are celebrating Prison Awareness Sunday. Our theme from the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care: “Be a light to Others . . . Instrument of Healing and Reconciliation.” It invites us to facilitate the healing of the wounds caused by crime and involves the offender, the victim, and the community.

From the introduction to the special Eucharistic celebration of Prison Awareness Sunday, we read:

“There is darkness when there is no freedom; when you are abandoned and separated from your loved ones; when you are suffering from loneliness, condemnation and injustices.

“Brothers and Sisters, it is this kind of darkness that the prisoners and the victims of crimes are suffering from. The prisoners need to see the light; the victims need to be in the light and the community needs to see their role as light bearers - instrument of healing and reconciliation.”

A source book on restorative justice has been recently published by the Coalition Against Death Penalty. It is entitled Restorative Justice Beyond Punishment with the subtitle: “Let us seek humanity in the wrongdoers.” Its programs include victim-offender mediation, conferencing, circles, victim assistance, ex-offender assistance, restitution, and community service. The relational victim-offender mediation is a strikingly Christian way of healing, reparation, and peace. It can even be done within the confines of the prison walls, when the convicted wrongdoer is already serving his/her term. Quoting the source book:

“This is a process that provides an interested victim the opportunity to meet his offender in a safe and structured setting, engaged in a discussion of the crime with the assistance of a trained mediator. The goals of victim-offender mediation include: permitting victims to meet their offenders on a voluntary basis, encouraging the offender to learn about the crime’s impact and to take responsibility for the resulting harm, and providing victim and offender the opportunity to develop a plan that addresses the harm.”

For several decades now, with the collaboration of lay volunteers, we have sustained, and will continue our Jesuit prison ministry at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinglupa City. Our Jesuit chaplains are assigned there fulltime, and they live within the prison compound. Overall, their experience in leading back the prisoners to the ways of God has been most fulfilling. As one chaplain said: “Their aspirations in life are my inspirations in life.” He further observed that the prisoners’ level of active participation at Holy Mass is ten times more than what we experience in typical parishes.

Quite a number of them have been involved in self-help projects, like hand-made candles, handbags, wooden crucifixes, and others. Some have produced such beautiful paintings, one of which was Mother and Child (Mary and Jesus). With longing in his heart, the prisoner-painter said that it reminds him of his wife and child.

Let us pray for the victims, offenders, and their families on this Prison Awareness Sunday.