4th Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)
March 18-19, 2023
Gospel: John 9:1,6-9, 13-17, 34-38 (short form)
Today’s Gospel surfaces two very deep questions:
(1) What is Truth? and
(2) Who has control of Truth?
Have you ever prayed for something, and then, when it happens, you convince yourself that it was a “natural consequence for which God played little or no part”? Sometimes our prayers do not seem to be answered, at other times, we have absolutely no doubt that we have received a healing like no other: our needs were heard.
For example, a risky pregnancy may end in a healthy baby after much prayer. You might pray for a new job, and, right after prayer, the phone rings with a job offer. We sometimes struggle to admit that God intervenes and really hears our prayers. Today’s Gospel about the one-born-blind, teaches you and me that we all struggle with unbelief. Staying faithful means believing we have been healed because we have been heard.
God sees clearly what is in the depths of our hearts and God ignores the physical appearance. What’s on the outside does not really matter, it is what’s on the inside that sets us right and worthy of God’s healing.
As we mature, we come to know that there are many kinds of blindness. Spiritual blindness is the most dangerous. It trips up our ability to see ourselves as God sees us. It prohibits us from developing and using our gifts to draw us closer to Him. It forces us to put limitations on ourselves that can keep us from God’s healing and helping remedy; grace.
The one-born-blind-from-birth is unable to see the Messiah. He is both physically and spiritually blind. In his blindness, he unfortunately does not understand what it means to walk as a person of light. When Jesus heals him, he comes to know THE Light of the World. From there, he is sent out to bring the light to others.
James Thurber, a humorist, lost his sight toward the end of his career as a writer. So goes the story that Thurber attended a party thrown by a friend. As a certain couple left the party, Thurber said to his host, “They are going to break up”. The host insisted that Thurber could not possible be right, saying, “I’ve never seen such friendliness and smiling.” “Yes,” said Thurber, “you saw them… I heard them”. The couple separated six months later. The host was able to see but he had no insight.
Sometimes, things are not what they seem…
So, how is your Lent going in your search for The Truth shining in The Light?
