Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 26, 2017 - 4th Sunday of Lent - A
[1 Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38,44]"Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, the one speaking with you is he" He said, "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him. [John]
"...was blind but now I see!" Those familiar words from AMAZING GRACE can echo as we read/hear the gospel scripture for today. I pray your parish will not opt for the "shorter form" and, instead, invite people to sit as the story unfolds. The evangelist has carefully crafted this scene. As the Man Born Blind gradually gains his "sight" (faith), those who claimed to "see" (believe) get blinder and blinder as they are confronted with his faith. The last words of the passage are powerful: Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains." "Sin" in the Gospel According to John is the failure to believe in Jesus.
The drama begins with a simple act on the part of Jesus, after dismissing the claim of the disciples that the Man Born Blind was blind because of "sin" on his part or that of his parents. Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud, rubs it on the eyes of the Man Born Blind, and sends him to the Pool of Siloam to wash and recover his sight. No act of faith was required on his behalf. At the beginning, he simply knows "cause and effect." It is the challenge of his neighbors and the Pharisees that gets him to reflect on what has happened. As they question him more and more, he beings to "see" in a different way, while his questioners become blinder in their denial of his healing and "seeing."
Can we ask ourselves after hearing/reading this powerful story about the possibility of blindness in our own lives? Are we skeptical about people who testify to us about the power of their faith? Today, in many parishes, there will be a further step in the RCIA process called a "scrutiny." If you have the opportunity to meet the candidates and speak to them, I hope you can hear some of their "faith stories." I remember well one of the first persons I admitted to the church, a high school boy. I asked him why he was doing this. He responded, "I'm reaching for the light." On the news recently, a colorblind boy was handed some special glasses that enabled him to see colors. His immediate reaction was to burst into tears. I pray we who have been baptized as infants can appreciate what is happening for the candidates and examine our own "sight" that we can easily take for granted. AMEN
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