Erin McHugh's Witness--30 March 2014

In today’s Gospel Jesus the light on the world takes away the man’s blindness. While I know that none of us here today as physical blind I believe that Jesus takes away are own “blindness” toward the world and gives us light. By taking away this “blindness” we are able to see the world and others through the eyes of God and then be that light for others. I know for me it was not until I read the readings for today that I realized that I have been “blind” to many people and social issues happening in the world around me and it wasn’t until God “healed” me that I could see them.

All of my life I have always been doing service in my community to help those in need. In middle school I tutored and played with the kids at a child care center for underprivileged families who couldn’t afford childcare. At Christmas time my family would adopt a refugee family and welcome them to the US providing them with some simple basic needs. Then in high school I went on multiple mission trips to Appalachia to do home repair for the families who couldn’t afford. While I have always enjoyed doing all this service it hasn’t until a came to college or really even this year that I found my true calling and passion for service. I hate to admit this but I feel like before this year I had did service out of pity, feeling bad that I had so much and kind of looked down on them. When in reality just because they did not have a nice house or clothes didn’t mean they were any less worthy of love and happiness than me.

 Now that God has opened my eyes to their love I find so much more joy in serving the needs of my community than I ever have before. I do not see this people for their wrinkly old clothes, or run down houses now I see them as children of God with the light of Christ dwelling inside of each of them. Today I can say that because of the light I received from Christ I now have a strong passion for service and heart for the poor. I no longer look down on the people I serve, but rather see through as any of person who deserves just as much in live as I do. Service to me is no longer something I feel like I have to do it is now something love doing and feel called to do for the rest of my life.

I have especially found this joy every 1st Saturday of the month when I get to go volunteer at the food pantry. It brings me great happiness to open the doors of the food pantry and let everyone in to provide the basic need of food. I love working the front desk and welcoming each of them as they come in. I especially enjoy it when I recognize one of them from the previous month and then strike up a conservation seeing how they had been. These people are full of so much joy and grateful hearts towards everything that is contagious. Whenever I leave the food pantry or any service project of that matter, I feel so blessed and hope that my heart doesn’t explode from all the happiness and joy that I had just received. Service to me is a two-way street that touches the hearts and lives of everyone involved forever.

While I’m no where near perfect and still often find myself looking down on others or focusing on their physical appearances. I simply pray to God asking for His grace to allow me to see everything through His eyes. I’m thankful for the experiences God has given me and his love and forgiveness when I do judge others So I hope that each of you can look at the world and others through God’s eyes, and to live as children of light because you never know what miracle God will perform in your life.