“As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” (John 9:1-3)
When I first read these verses, I could not stop thinking about Baby Charlie (look previous posts) and his parents. They are wonderful people, full of love, care and compassion for others. And we could question why the son of such great people was born with all those challenges. We are missing the point that the question is not “why” but “what for.” And these verses reveal that it is “so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
A few days after this reading, I was on my way to France for work. I met this strong Mexican man who is about 45-50 years old. I do not even know how or why, but he revealed to me that her daughter had given him his first grandson, who was born with the Down syndrome. His eyes watered; sadness was visible and even some embarrassment. I quickly pulled my Little Black Book (6-min meditation of the Gospel during Lent) and shared with him this reading and some of the reflections from it. He was relieved, but he had more heavy matters on him that he needed to unload.
This sharing allowed our conversation to go to a whole new level, where I could share a lot of my faith and the tools I have learn in the past few years. This man had feelings of guilt, need for forgiveness, need to control the outcome of her daughter and grandson, and curiosity of God. I am so thankful we crossed paths, and I was able to guide this person in the name and glory of God. And along the way, this became another sign of my true vocation.
All this time, I have felt that because of my lack of experience, I may not be successful as a therapist or counselor. But this man showed me this is not a valid concern or good reason to quit. He showed me I have a gift, whether I want to accept it or not.
