Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 11, 2018 - 4th Sunday of Lent - B
[2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; John 3:14-21]You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. [Ephesians]
If I had to give an overarching "theme" to our three scriptures for this Sunday, I'd choose LIGHT AND SIGHT or SIGHT AND INSIGHT.. It may be that I am influenced by my experience of having cataract surgery on both my eyes last Fall. There was a real fear of having anything done to my eyes despite the declarations of friends that they were really glad they had the procedure done. Now I have joined them in their gladness. I don't often refer to all three scriptures on a Sunday, but light and sight show up in important ways today.
In the story of David's call in the first scripture there are the words, "Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart." Many is the time when we will judge by appearance only to discover that a given person is a wonderful gift to us once we go beyond "appearances."
The wonderful account in the Gospel According to John of Jesus' encounter with the man born blind has the disciples judging according to popular belief that blindness is a punishment for sin. Jesus sees beyond that to the possibility of faith within that blind man and brings that faith to both spiritual and physical sight. We never know when our own life of faith may attract someone that we judged to be punished somehow. The man born blind knew he had been healed. It was only by his dialogue with unbelieving people that he discovered he had received more than physical sight! Then he encounters Jesus again and discovers that the gift he received was truly more than physical!
The gift of "faith-sight" requires more than feelings, however. The Letter to the Ephesians demands a complete change of attitude. Ask anyone who will be baptized this Easter what the ceremony will mean to them. I encountered just such a person during my recent parish mission preaching. I was profoundly moved by what she was discovering. We who are cradle Catholics may take our "sight" for granted just as we may take physical sight for granted. Perhaps the difference is that between "sight" and "insight." We can pray today with another person Jesus healed of blindness, Bartimaeus, "Lord, let me see!" [Mark 10:46-52] AMEN