Lord Open My Eyes. In the Catholic Times, a parish priest in the Eyes of the Believers Column gives the readers something to dwell on, finally coming out of the long tunnel of Corona 19.
This is because the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared that it will lift the COVID-19 quarantine system, which has shocked people all over the world over the past three years and four months, and the Korean government has also announced that it will follow the measures from June. This means that most of the quarantine measures and obligations that were compulsorily applied to the public after the COVID-19 pandemic will disappear and we will return to normal life.
In the COVID-19 situation, many lived with their eyes open yet were spiritually blind, and not a few lived as if they were physically blind but with their spiritual eyes wide open. Those who were healed physically and spiritually by their firm faith in Jesus, the "light of the world" (John 9:5) appear throughout the New Testament.
"As Jesus was leaving Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the roadside, and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ … Jesus asked: "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Teacher, let me see again." Jesus said to him: "Go. Your faith has saved you. And immediately he saw again" (Mk 10:46-52).
Those who suffered from a disability at birth or who suffered from a disability due to their own fault, or the fault of others or some external influence, need, above all, the devoted sacrifice and help of their families and neighbors, and the absolute and unlimited support of the State that wants everyone's welfare. "Lord, open our eyes" (Matthew 20:33).
Song Francis lost his eyesight in a grenade explosion accident when he was a private in the army, and Lee Lucia, a life partner always stood by her husband and became his eyes, ears, and cane even when she was sick and uncomfortable! As the world's first disabled person to complete the world's four extreme marathons: the Sahara, Gobi, Atacama, and Antarctica, he is an iron man who achieved a grand slam. And gave hope to many. Perhaps that is why, when the priest wakes up in the morning, steps outside the door with a cane, looks at the statue of the Virgin Mary, and makes the sign of the cross with a grateful heart.
Every time the pastor brings them the Eucharist twice a month, the couple radiates the joy of receiving the body of the Lord. A brother who lives with an uncomfortable body but has always lived a spiritually fulfilled life, and a sister who silently sacrifices and serves her husband a true examples of a holy family.
He is reminded of the essay 「Three Days to See」 by Helen Keller, an American disabled person who could not see, or hear but did learn to speak. She said that if she had only one wish it would be to open her eyes and see for ‘only three days’ before she dies.
'Being eyes to the blind and legs to the lame' (Job 29:15). In today's individualistic and concerned-with-self world, do we live faithfully as believers who serve as eyes and bridges for people with disabilities?
