When the woman listened to the snake’s clever lies, she was deceived. Her thoughts were led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, the Word of God, Who was abiding in her. (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). The woman became blind to the reality, as a consequence of listening to the snake’s clever lies.
Once she listened to the snake, she started to doubt the truth. Doubt appears as a consequence of losing clarity. This losing of clarity (initial moments of confusion) and the resulting doubts of the Divine Truth are the first and second signs of spiritual blindness.
When spiritual blindness occurs, we start to see things humanly, and not spiritually, or rather “not as they really are”. We start to use human reasoning rather than the Divine Truth as the standard of our judgments. On the other hand, the Divine Truth, the Word of God, helps us to “see things as they really are”(Hebrews 4:12-13).
Where there is clarity, there is no doubt, but only the certainty of faith. Doubts are replaced by the blessing of “full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Doubting, Eve started to see the fruit differently. What was once dangerous and forbidden started to seem good! Before listening to the snake, she held that eating the fruit, even touching it, would be fatal. However, she loses her precious convictions in the few moments that follow listening to the snake. The woman then “saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat”, she “saw that it was delightful to behold” and she “saw that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give”.
When we listen to the clever lies of the Devil, the Divine Truth which illuminates our minds, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, isin danger of being obscured. We risk losing Jesus Christ, the Word of God, Who abides in us.
This is how the Devil comes and “takes away the Word from their hearts” in case they should believe and therefore be saved. (Luke 8:12)
Faith is therefore nothing but holding firmly to the Divine Truth, the Word of God, with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and all our soul.
The Apostles remind us, “Let what you heard in the beginning remain in you..”, or “Hold fast to what we have taught you, either by word of mouth, or by letter”. (1 Corinthians 15:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; Philippians 2:16; 1 John 2:24).
The more our eyes are cleansed from blindness, the more we will recognise Jesus Christ. We recognise Him in the Word of God; we recognise Him in the Bread of Life, and we will recognise Him in our brothers and sisters, that He identifies Himself with the least.
“How blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
St. John the Baptist could recognise Jesus and also recognise the Theotokos (“God-bearer”, a title given to the Mother of God) even whilst he was in his mother’s womb! This blessed and holy man would point out Jesus Christ to countless men and women, not only in his generation, but for all generations to come. A life of prayer, a life of purity, helps us to recognise the Christ. “St. John the Baptist lived a life in the desert, and his spirit became strong.” (Luke 1:80)
The Word of God, the Divine Light, helps us to see things “clearly and distinctly”. (Mark 8:25) We clearly see the difference between light and darkness and the difference between their corresponding works. We will begin to see that anexternally “good work”, possibly appearing as good and perfect in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world, if carried out without Divine Grace is nothing but darkness and hypocrisy. This is why the Lord condemned the “prayers” of the Pharisees, which were nothing but an empty and external show, and only serving to draw down condemnation on themselves.
When our blindness is removed, we see that the first and most important work we must perform is to be in the grace of God. Our Blessed Mother, our Lord Jesus Christ and all the saints came “full of grace” and “truth”. (Luke 1:28; John 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:10)
Here are some prayers which we can recite in order to be healed from spiritual blindness:
The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi before the Crucifix of San Damiano
“Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my mind, give me right faith, a firm hope and perfect charity, so that I may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will. Amen.”
A humble prayer made by Pope John XXIII as he commenced his priestly ministry
“O Lord, listen to this blind man who calls out to You as You pass by, and implores You to help him, You Who are indeed the Light of my eyes! Give me light that I may see: ‘Lord, that I may see!’”
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