We’ve all heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. The cover cannot convey every detail of the book. Likewise, a person’s appearance cannot say everything about them. Appearance is important, but it isn’t the be-all and end-all. You often have to look deeper, into the details, to truly understand someone or something. And I think this is one of themes in today’s readings.

In the first reading, it’s outright stated. Samuel looked at the man and believed that he had found God’s anointed. But God rejected him: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature… man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart”. In the Gospel, the disciples and the Pharisees judge the man or his parents to have sinned because he is blind. They see only the man’s appearance, not who he truly is. But Jesus explains that this is not the case, that the man had not sinned. Jesus saw beneath the surface of the blind man and did God’s work through him.

In today’s world, it is far too easy to judge by appearances. We may even do this without realizing it. We look at the clothes a person wears, the car they drive, how big their house is, and we begin to make assumptions. This Lent, don’t stop at the surface. Look deeper, and like the Lord, “look into the heart”.