S3 E 24: Close Your Eyes and Trust: Lessons from Blindness and Faith

In this personal episode, Corinne Cathcart shares her family's generations-long experience with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease that causes gradual blindness. Through vivid stories—from learning Punnett squares in middle school biology class, to her grandpa's ingenious organizational systems (including the memorable chili made with green beans instead of kidney beans), to her great-uncle Bob confidently striding across an open field—Corinne illustrates how trust transforms the experience of blindness. She connects these family stories to the Gospel account of the man born blind, reflecting on Jesus' strange method of healing with mud and saliva, the cruel popular belief that blindness was caused by sin, and her grandpa's painful experience of being told "no one wanted to see people like him" at a restaurant. Through the beautiful image of her dad's cousin Joyce winning dance competitions while blind, fully trusting her husband Kenny to lead and catch her, Corinne reminds us that Jesus is always reaching out his hand, ready to pull us back in—if only we trust that his hand is right where it's supposed to be. We don't need to see. We just need to close our eyes and trust in him.

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Corinne was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but has been a member of the Blessed Sacrament community for 14 years. She earned a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University, where she met her husband of over 25 years, and a Master's in Education from the University of Cincinnati. She was a second grade Catholic school teacher in Cincinnati before moving here when her husband started working for Dow Chemical. She loves working with the littles of the Blessed Sacrament family as the Children's Faith Formation Coordinator. When she's not at work, you'll find her with her nose in a book or learning something new!