On Monday, 14 March 2022, an indigenous lady from Kuala Rompin came to Kuantan with three of her family members. She had cataracts in both eyes but didn’t know how she lost her eyesight until our Parish Integral of Human Development (PIHDM) members brought it to her attention. Our PIHDM then made arrangements with the hospital in Kuantan for her to have a minor procedure done, to remove and fix her cataracts. A cataract develops when the lens in the eyes become foggy, blurry and cloudy thus inhibiting vision.
It is the same thing when we have a nasal congestion due to blocked sinuses from a flu, where we have difficulty in breathing through the nose. This nasal congestion makes it difficult to breathe and we try to get some remedy to relieve the uneasiness. A recommended home remedy is doing a steam inhalation of vapour from hot water.
What have the above analogies got to do with our spiritual life? Well, we may sometimes encounter our spiritual life as a blurry and foggy experience. Therefore, we need to enhance our spirituality by taking certain steps to enable a distinct path - with a clearer vision and right direction. When our spiritual journey is blocked and walled with negativities, then everything in our lives will be folded in the darkness of sin.
Our spiritual life can be like a nasal congestion, where we have stumbling blocks and difficulty growing in holiness. We tend to experience meaningless spirituality because we have a blockage of sins. For instance, when we have a spirit of unforgiveness, then we slowly become bitter towards others and this may lead us on the path of revenge, hatred and wrath.
Sin creates poor spiritual vision and creates blockages filled with guilt and shame. We may face all kinds of distractions - experiencing poor spiritual vision as a result of our wrong doings. We need to take every precaution to protect our spiritual vision as much as we do to preserve our eyesight and physical wellbeing. The world is full of pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony and laziness - which are the roots of all temptation. We must overcome these bad habits with the grace of God.
The Church has given us a 40-day journey of Lent - it is a period of repentance, renewal and preparation - to deepen our spiritual life through the three Lenten observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let us keep our spiritual vision clear and unobstructed during this Holy Lent season so that we may “permanently fix my eyes are on Yahweh, for He will free my feet from snares,” (Psalm25: 15).
