Have you ever felt that you are an instrument of God? God calls us by our very lives to be his instruments.

What if to be his instrument you were born blind? The person born blind has never seen a sunset or the different shades of the blue sea. He has never seen the poui in full bloom or the lush green of the Savannah. He has never experienced daylight. He has grown up knowing only darkness.

In many places in Trinidad and Tobago, the black night is a thing of yesteryear. We are bombarded by artificial lighting. Absolute darkness can be so intense that your hand could be inches from your face and you won’t see it.

When there is a power outage you can wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and most times it will. In absolute darkness, you wait and wait and wait, and see nothing. For many it is a scary thing. You long for the light. Any light! No matter how dim.

For the man born blind, he knows no light. He is not afraid. It is his life. Today’s Gospel shows such a man encountering Jesus. After following a simple instruction from Jesus to “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam” he sees.

Are we in darkness? Do we realise that we are? Are we accustomed to seeing things in artificial lighting?

Are we willing to follow that one instruction that will help us to truly see: to be illuminated. The one who is an instrument of God - who has his light – is able to look past the external and superficial and see the heart.

If we are to be God’s instruments we must get past our handicaps and be able to extend a hand to those around us, understanding that we are all handicapped in some way.

There is a story of two men walking. Mark has one arm and John has two. Mark stops to tie his shoe-lace, and then asks John if he could do what he (Mark) had just done. When John can’t tie his shoe-lace with one hand, Mark shaking his head says, “And they call me handicapped.”

The world is full of signs and wonders, but many don’t see them. They cannot appreciate what is going on around them, much like the Pharisees in today’s reading.

They are blinded by their own authority and greed. The man, now with his sight restored, sees it all and recognises God in his midst. As an instrument of God, he sees what they can’t see. He sees their weaknesses.

Another story tells of a man with eyesight who happens upon a village of blind people. “Ho!’ he says, “Surely I am better than these people. I can see, and they can’t.”

But this man is a fool. He soon realises he cannot outwit these people, because they do not see with their eyes but with their ears, nose, and fingertips.

While they are blind, all their other senses are heightened and are far superior to those of the man with eyesight. While he has sight, he lacks what they have: an acute sense of smell, hearing, taste and touch – things which give them greater awareness of their surroundings.

The Pharisees in today’s Gospel are like that man with eyesight. Their perception is shallow and their vision is blurred because they lack mercy. The word of God does not reach their ears and they do not feel the love of God.

Instead of focussing on the wonderful work that Jesus has done, they focus on the fact that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. They try to show off their learning, but in choosing to discredit the instrument of God their false pride and sense of self-importance is revealed.

In examining this Gospel we must ask ourselves, are we like the Pharisees or are we true instruments of God? Do we bring others down to make ourselves look good, or do we by our very lives enlighten those around us and glorify our Lord? Well, do we?

Lord Jesus, compassionate One, we praise You for Your healing power. Through our Lenten exercises help us to be better instruments, illuminated by Your light. May we humbly extend Your love and mercy to all those around us and through our lives give glory to You.

Gospel Meditations for March are by Sean Leid, a member of the Cathedral’s Communication Team.