[stephenkhoo]

CRIPPLED BY BLINDNESS TO THE LARGER REALITY OF LIFE

08 April 2015, Wednesday within the Octave of Easter

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 3:1-10; LK 24:13-35
During this octave of Easter, we are called to reflect on why is it that the power of the resurrection has not enabled us to live as a redeemed people yet. Yes, Jesus might have risen, but it does not mean that we are subjectively redeemed. The scripture readings today present to us two possible obstacles as to why we are still not experiencing the power of the resurrection.

The first reason is that some of us are crippled like the man who begged at the beautiful gate of the temple. That is to say that physical handicaps or material disadvantage can prevent us from seeing the larger reality of life. Thus, people who are materially poor or lack skills and knowledge can become so obsessed with the need to build up their personal and material wealth that they fail to see the larger picture of life. In that sense they are no different from the crippled man who too was begging for the mundane things of life. But the tragedy of it all is that such people who focus only on acquiring such temporal things will end up living at the periphery of life. Consequently, in seeking only for alms from Peter and John, the crippled man was missing out on the bigger dimension of life.

That was why Peter did not give him what he asked for, for to give him alms alone would not really liberate the man. Hence, Peter told him, “Gold and silver, I do not have but I give you what I can”; namely, the ability to walk again in the name of Jesus. To walk in the name of Jesus means of course more than just a physical recovery from his handicap, but it means that he is not able to live his life by the power of the Risen Christ, having faith in him and the gospel. It is ultimately such kind of faith that would eventually set him free from being crippled in life. Yes, Peter wanted to give him a larger view of life instead of looking at life from a narrow perspective.

However, some of us do not fall into this first category because we might feel quite adequate in life, knowing that we are materially well off and personally endowed with sufficient talents. But then, the danger is that such material comforts can lead us to be blind to the total reality of life. This group of people is well illustrated in the disciples of Emmaus. We are told that they too were crippled, not physically but emotionally and spiritually. Unlike the earlier group, this group is crippled due to their blindness. They just could not understand how the great enterprise started by Jesus could end so abruptly. It was perceived by them to be a tragedy. Yes, it was their blindness to the real meaning of the event that crippled them from seeing the Risen Lord who was walking with them. However, when Jesus explained to them the significance of the events, they could then recognize the Risen Lord at the breaking of bread. In other words, it was when they were led to look at the whole situation in the perspective of faith that they realized that the Lord was present with them.

If we find ourselves believing in the Risen Lord but still not redeemed, it could be due to the fact that we are still crippled by our disillusionment and resentments and hence unable to see life through the eyes of the Risen Lord. We are still looking at life according to our limited perspective, like the crippled man. He only thought of begging for money but he did not have the courage and the foresight to look beyond his immediate needs. He had no vision – a vision that could offer him a fuller life.

Or we could be like the disciples at Emmaus who, due to their lack of understanding and their blindness, were weighed down by their disappointments and thus unable to see the reality of life in its fullness, namely, the intrinsic connection between the cross and the resurrection. We are still denying the cross in our lives in some ways or another. But the moment we accept the cross as essential to the resurrection, then we will not be so weary and downhearted like the disciples at Emmaus. We will know then, that the cross is not the end of the story. Rather, we will realize that it is the cross that makes the resurrection possible in our lives.

Let me conclude this reflection with a short story of how a narrow view of life can prevent us from seeing the totality of life. Once there was a man who was obsessed with gold. Day and night, he thought of nothing but gold. One day, he went to the goldsmith shop. He snatched the gold of a potential buyer and fled. But the shop owner cried for help. Eventually, he was caught by the police. When they asked what made him snatch the gold in front of so many people, he replied, “At the time when I snatched the gold, I did not see the people. I only saw the gold.” Indeed, when one’s mind is overly preoccupied with something, one becomes oblivious to all other things, often to the detriment of one’s being.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh