The Blind

Fourth Sunday of Lent March 18 & 19, 2023

1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Eph 5:8-14 [Jn 8:12] Jn 9:1-41

“I see said the blind man to the deaf man.” This is an expression I sometimes jokingly use when someone I know is explaining to me something I already know, or think I know. All kidding aside, we often limit ourselves with our ability to see and hear the truth about Jesus and the Gospel message.

When I was young, I use to struggle being able to read the chalk board in school and would often get headaches from trying to read what was on the board. Yes, I know I’m dating myself by using the words chalk board. Any ways, one day the teacher, realizing I was struggling, sent me to the nurse’s office where she administered an eye chart reading exam and then sent me home with a note for my parents to take me to see an optometrist. Turned out I had developed astigmatism in both my eyes. Without the astigmatism I have 20/20 vision, but the astigmatism causes everything near and far to become blurry. With prescription glasses my vision is clearer, but that is only one way in which I can overcome my blurred vision. If I take my glasses off and I use my finger to create a pin hole and look through the pin hole, everything I see through the pin hole is clear. This happens because I am no longer using the outer part of my eye where the astigmatism is to see what is on the other side of the pin hole, so basically what I’m doing is removing the obstruction or obstacle that prevents me from seeing clearly. Now I can’t live my life walking around looking through my fingers, that would just be odd, so instead I wear glasses, and who knows, maybe someday I might get Lasik eye surgery and remove the astigmatism all together, but I do look good in glasses, so there’s that.

Now in our first reading today, the Prophet Samuel had a sort of spiritual astigmatism when he went to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the future king of God’s chosen people. Samuel’s vision was blurred by a preconceived notion of who he thought would make a good king; his vision was skewed by worldly misconceptions regarding physical strength and appearance, not looking at character of heart and soul. Neither Samuel or Jesse saw as God did, and when Jesse called for his youngest son, and David appeared, God said to Samuel “there, anoint him, for this is the one!”

In our Gospel reading we hear the story of a man born blind; however, he is not the only person in this story who has impaired vision. The Disciples, his parents and neighbors, and the Pharisees all appear to be struggling with their own spiritual astigmatism or blindness.

The Disciples question about “who sinned?” reveals how they, along with all the Jews, believed that sickness and suffering were regarded as punishment from God. But it is not that simple. We all have sin in our lives, but God does not wish to condemn or punish us for our sins, but rather he wants to reconcile us to himself. Sickness and suffering may have entered our existence because of original sin, but our suffering and sickness is not a punishment from God. Rather, Jesus tells his disciples that “it is so the works of God might be made visible through him.” Jesus reveals the Love of the Father by healing us and reconciling us through his own suffering and death. Which is part of what we celebrate during this Lenten season.

How often are we like Samuel or the Disciples in letting the current world view skew our beliefs? What can we do to correct that blurred vision? One way is through our Lenten practices of penance, fasting, and prayer, as we try to align ourselves with the will of God and the teachings of the Church.

Now what about the others in the story. We have the parents, whom out of fear, do not want to get involved and wish to distance themselves from the situation. They have most likely endured a lot of discrimination, alienation, and rejection from their community simply because their son was born blind; and now they don’t wish to be expelled from the Synagogue. And so, their fear binds them and blinds them from recognizing and encountering the healing grace that has been poured out on their son that not only liberates him, but them as well. How often do we let fear get in our way of experiencing God’s forgiveness? There is no sin so great that God’s love cannot overcome! His love is greater than all our sins combined. How do we overcome this fear? Through our Lenten practice of prayer, fasting, and penance.

What about the neighbors, who are indifferent? They have and show no compassion or sympathy for the man born blind, they even question whether he was actually born blind. Maybe it was a ruse all along! Really? Why would anyone wish to pretend to be blind in order to be looked upon as a sinner? What about us? How often are we indifferent to those who are different from us, or who are less fortunate than us, or who may not be living as we think they should? Or how often do we question the integrity of someone who claims to have had a conversion or turned over a new leaf? Maybe we are struggling with our own conversion that we find it difficult to accept the conversion of another who we thought was less than us. How do we overcome this indifference? Through surrender, humility, and sacrifice as we practice penance, fasting and almsgiving during this season of Lent.

Then there are the Pharisees, who completely refuse to believe. They follow a strict observance of the law and are often self-righteous having pretensions to superior sanctity. So, the fact that Jesus healed the blind man on a Sabbath did not sit well with them at all. And when the once blind man began explaining to them what he had learned from his experience, he was tossed out as they said to him “you were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?”

How often do we get hung up in the letter of the law instead of in the spirit. For example, this year the Feast of Saint Patrick fell on Friday. Many Bishops this year, as in years past, issued a special dispensation from abstaining from meat for individuals who choose to celebrate the feast day. There are some who believe Bishops should not give such dispensations and that everyone needs to adhere to strict rules regarding abstaining and fasting during lent.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not pointing my finger at anyone, I’m simply pointing out one area of personal piety that could potentially be an astigmatism in the way we see each other practicing our faith, and this is only one of many possible differences we might encounter. Regardless of which way we lean with regards to our personal beliefs and piety, we need to keep an open mind and heart for the Holy Spirit to move in us as we work towards entering into a deeper relationship with Christ where we can find healing and reconciliation.

Lastly, we have the blind man in this story, who is literally blind from birth, but his faith is filled with a spirit that is longing and hoping. He has no name in this story because he is all of us. We are all born with original sin, we suffer the affects of sin in our lives, and we all have some level of spiritual blindness we need to overcome; we are all in need of some type of physical, emotional and spiritual healing.

The clay that Jesus creates from the ground and puts on the man’s eyes is symbolic of our creation, similar to the ashes we place on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, reminding us that we are made of the dust from the earth. But now this blind man will be made a new creation in Christ, and he is sent forth to wash in the waters of Siloam, which represent the waters of our baptism as we are born into new life in the Church.

In closing, let us remember: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”

And so, I leave you with this Prayer: Lord, can you fix my eyesight like you did for the blind man? I want to see with your eyes those who are teased for being different. I want to see with your eyes the homeless person on a park bench. I want to see with your eyes people from other races and cultures. I want to see more than people who think that being thinner or stronger makes you more loveable. I want to see more than people who look at wealth and think that’s what life is all about. Help me to see with your eyes, Lord! Blind me to the way the world sees so that I won’t give in to judging people on their looks or skin color or possessions or personality. Help me to see, and to love, as you love, Lord – with eyes so wide open that they see past the outside and right into the heart of another. Amen.

https://youtu.be/0jnjgiOf16E?t=1648