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

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1 St. Thomas the Apostle Parish Pastor: Fr. John Lyons Adult Religious Education Preparing for Sunday Finding Intimacy with God, in everyday life March 30, th Sunday in Lent (A) 1Sm 16:1,6-7,10-13; Ps 23:1-3a,3b-4,5,6; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41 Very Rev. Joseph A. Pellegrino Lord, You have created us in Your image. We open ourselves now to the true depth and passion of that statement. Help us, Lord, to notice how You are speaking to us. Open our hearts and minds to new insights. Amen 4 th Sunday of Lent: Called from Darkness to Light A man had just sat down at his desk to begin the working day when one of his associates came storming into his office. "You won't believe this," he said. "I was just almost killed outside. I had just walked out of the deli where I buy my egg sandwich every morning. Suddenly a police car came down the street with its lights flashing and sirens blaring. The police were chasing another car. The other car stopped right in front of me. The guys jumped out and began shooting at the police. I hit the ground and could hear bullets buzzing over my head. I'm telling you, I'm lucky to be alive." After a moment of silence the first man said: "You eat an egg sandwich every morning?" The point of the story, and believe it or not there is one, is that we can become so involved in our own narrow interests that we miss the obvious. This Sunday s Gospel illustrates the destructiveness of such narrowness. Jesus had just healed a blind man, "to let God's work shine forth." But by doing this he threatened the comfortable ordered life of the Jewish leaders. How could God possibly be working through someone other than them? If people were to claim God's work outside of their structure, then their authority was being threatened. They missed the fact that God was indeed working. They were more concerned with the minor part. He was working, but not through them. They focused on the egg sandwich instead of the whole picture of what was taking place. So, these leaders sought some way to discredit what he had done. They condemned Jesus for working on the Sabbath. Even though it was a sign of the presence of the Messiah that sight would be given to the blind, and even though the man's parents testified that he was indeed born blind, they refused to see the presence of God among them. By the end of the reading it is clear that they are blind. The Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John, presents this intricate little drama in its ninth chapter as a call for us all to allow the Lord to open our eyes. The Temple leaders and Pharisees were too concerned with themselves to do this. They were not going to have some commoner from Nazareth upset their lifestyle. We are all tempted to do the same thing ourselves. We may be pretty settled in our family when we suddenly realize that our spouse or one of the children has a big problem. Our spouse, or one of our older children, college age, is drinking way too much for it not to be a problem. But it is so easy to close our eyes to this--maybe it will go away. We act as though it is asking too much for us to give of ourselves to solve the problem. We refused to see the Lord calling out to us in others. We don't see the whole picture. We are blind to his presence. 1

2 As another example, perhaps at work or in school we are confronted with people pushing us to make unchristian choices. We know that we could take a courageous stand and say "That is just not right, or even, that is not my style," but this would make for further conflict. We don't see the whole picture. This is our opportunity to really stand up for Christ. So, instead of making life difficult for ourselves, we go along with the crowd, in conversation if not also in deed. We end up being blind to God's presence calling us to give witness to the power of Christ in the world. God's reality and our human perception of things do not necessarily match. Neither Jesse nor Samuel the prophet thought that the future king of Israel would be the most insignificant of Jesse's sons. No one expected the Messiah to be a commoner from Nazareth. When we focus on our perceptions of what God should be like or how he should act, we miss his presence in our lives. Even in times of sickness, we expect God to heal us, when actually our sickness might be the very way that we draw closer to him. We expect God to solve our problems when actually these problems help us to keep a perspective on what really is important in life. By demanding how God should act, as the Pharisees did, we become blind to his presence among us. Today we pray for the grace to take steps from darkness into light. This material is used with permission of its author, Rev. Joseph A. Pellegrino, Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL 4th Sunday in Lent Cycle A The information and commentary presented each week on this page are notes for the Wednesday Scripture Class held at St Charles Borromeo 1000 Goodyear Blvd Picayune, MS Rev Mike Snyder, Pastor. These notes are not intended to be used in isolation but as background information for the readings and starting points for group discussion. Note: Where a Scripture text is underlined in the body of this discussion, it is recommended that the reader look up and read that passage. 1st Reading - 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a The books of Samuel were originally one book and actually form a continuation of the deuteronomic history of the people of Israel. It also marks a turning point in the history of God s people as Samuel is the last of the judges. Under increasing pressure from the Philistines, Samuel struggles to keep Israel faithful to Yahweh. Defeats in battle and the failure of Samuel s sons to follow his example, convince the people that Israel needs a new kind of leadership; a king. Samuel thought this was wrong, but God told him Grant the people s every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king. 8 As they have treated me constantly from the day I brought them up from Egypt to this day, deserting me and worshiping strange gods, so do they treat you. 9 Now grant their request; but at the same time, warn them solemnly and inform them of the rights of the king who will rule them. 10 Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full to those who were asking him for a king. 11 He told them: The rights of the king who will rule you will be as follows: He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses, and they will run before his chariot. 12 He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers. He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will use your daughters as ointment-makers, as cooks, and as bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, 2

3 and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15 He will tithe your crops and your vineyards, and give the revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves. 16 He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best oxen and your asses, and use them to do his work. 17 He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When this takes place, you will complain against the king whom you have chosen, but on that day the LORD will not answer you. 19 The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel s warning and said, Not so! There must be a king over us. 20 We too must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles. 21 When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say, he repeated it to the LORD, 22 who then said to him, Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them. Samuel thereupon said to the men of Israel, Each of you go to his own city. (1 Samuel 8:7-22). Samuel then anointed Saul, who doesn t work out too well, then God tells him to anoint David. It is of David s selection that we hear today. 16:1b The LORD said to Samuel: Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons. 6 As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, Surely the LORD S anointed is here before him. 7 But the LORD said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart. 10 In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, The LORD has not chosen any one of these. 11 Then Samuel asked Jesse, Are these all the sons you have? Jesse replied, There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him; we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here. 12 Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance. The LORD said, There - anoint him, for this is he! 13 Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David. This whole story shows that the choice was God s and not man s. Man s choice would have been the firstborn. In order to emphasize the authority behind this anointing, David is anointed with all his brothers as witnesses so no one can say I didn t know. Eliab was the firstborn and has difficulty accepting David s selection as can be seen in 1 Samuel 17:28. 2nd Reading - Ephesians 5:8-14 The destination of this epistle has caused some discussion. Although the manuscript tradition preponderantly supports the title to the Ephesians, a number of early manuscripts read simply to the saints and faithful who are in Christ Jesus. It is also interesting that not a single member of the Ephesian community is greeted or mentioned It was Paul s practice to extend such greetings in his letters. The uncertainty over the epistle s destination has occasioned a number of conjectures: It is the epistle to the Laodiceans alluded to in Colossians 4:16; It is Paul s last message to the Church; It was prepared by an anonymous author as an introduction to a group of Pauline letters; and It was a circular letter, written at the same time as Colossians and Philemon and directed to the communities of the province of Asia. This last explanation is considered to be the most probable. All this discussion aside, Ephesus was in Western Asia Minor, established by Ionian Greeks in the 11th century B.C. It possessed the famous Temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and was a center of magical practice. The Church was established there early and was visited by Saint Paul. It is the place where Saint John is reputed to have written his gospel, and he may also have been buried there. An impressive basilica was built over his supposed tomb. According to 3

4 one tradition, the dormation or assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurred on a hill near the city. Early in the 14th century A.D. it was occupied by the Turks and all that remains now is a small village called Selcuk which is located near the extensive ruins of the ancient city. Today s reading comes from the section of the epistle which gives exhortations to worthy conduct. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. The contrast of darkness and light is the contrast of opposition to God and membership in the Christian community. The darkness is being turned into light. There is not, as some heretics argue, a nature so alienated that it cannot receive salvation.... Those who receive salvation the righteous are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Those who refuse, the unrighteous, are in consequence called darkness.... The difference and distance between one and the other is clearly seen by their own fruits. [Saint Jerome (A.D. 386), Commentaries on the Epistle to the Ephesians, 3,5,8] Live as children of light, 9 for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. 10 Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, 12 for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. What is a fruitless work (vain deed)? One which lacks substance or worth. Galatians 5:19-21 lists some of them. He has said, you are light. Light exposes what takes place in darkness. Insofar as you are light your goodness shines forth. The wicked are not able to hide. Their actions are illuminated as though a lamp were at hand. [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D ), Homilies on the Epistle to the Ephesians, 18,5,11-13] Therefore, it says: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. This is probably a fragment of an ancient Christian hymn used in a baptismal liturgy (see also Ephesians 2:5-6; 3:9; Isaiah 60:1). Gospel - John 9:1-41 Last week we heard of the Samaritan woman at the well. This week we hear of the man born blind. Jesus had gone to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (September-October of the year before His crucifixion) in chapter 7. In Chapter 8 he is still in the vicinity of Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives and in and around the Temple. Our reading for today encompasses all of chapter 9. In chapter 10, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication (Lights/Hanukkah) which occurs in November-December. We can deduce then that our reading for today takes place in or very close to Jerusalem, probably in October or November of the year prior to His passion. This reading contrasts Jesus (the light of the world) with the Pharisees (blindness). 1 As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 4

5 It was a firm Jewish belief that every affliction was a punishment for sin, and that the sins of the parents could be punished in their offspring (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9). The disciples did not necessarily think that the man might have sinned before birth in the foreknowledge of God, the punishment might have been inflicted for a sin that was to follow. This was their reasoning in asking the question. 3 Jesus answered, Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. Divine providence has determined that this man is to serve as the occasion of a work of God. 4 We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Jesus now identifies the part He plays in fulfilling the divine purposes. In performing God s work in respect to this man, He will be offering a divine light. The we reminds us all that we also have the duty to do the works of God. Night is coming when no one can work. Light is opposed to spiritual darkness. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. This is another example of the I am (Yahweh) theme used by John and others. In John 8:12 (during the Feast of Tabernacles) Jesus spoke the same words. Like the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites by night, Jesus guides us through spiritual darkness. There is always a link between the words and works of Jesus. 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, Spittle was commonly believed to have medicinal properties. and smeared the clay on his eyes, Literally, anointed the clay on his eyes 7 and said to him, Go wash in the Pool of Siloam (which means Sent). This was, perhaps, a test of faith (see 2 Kings 5:10-14). The pool at the southern extremity of Jerusalem from which water was brought for the libations of the Feast of Tabernacles. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. The essence of the sign for John is not simply that sight has been restored, but light is given to one who never had it. 8 His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, Isn t this the one who used to sit and beg? 9 Some said, It is, but others said, No, he just looks like him. He said, I am. 10 So they said to him, (So) how were your eyes opened? 11 He replied, The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went 5

6 there and washed and was able to see. This is a symbol of baptism and spiritual enlightenment. In the early Church, baptism was called enlightenment. As is so often the case, the words and deeds of Jesus cause immediate dissension. Siloam means sent and Jesus was sent by the Father. 12 And they said to him, Where is he? He said, I don t know. 13 They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the arbiters of what is religiously proper, the dissension is communicated to them. Their complaint is against Jesus technical violation of the Sabbath. 14 Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15 So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see. 16 So some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath. (But) others said, How can a sinful man do such signs? And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes? He said, He is a prophet. Recognition of who Jesus really is, is coming to the man born blind. When first asked, he had replied simply that man they call Jesus (v11). Now, he calls Him a prophet. 18 Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. 19 They asked them, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see? 20 His parents answered and said, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself. The Jews had summoned the man s parents to verify that he had indeed been born blind. While affirming the undeniable, the parents refuse to commit themselves concerning his present state for the reason given in the next two verses. 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, He is of age; question him. When John states that confession of Christ was punished by excommunication from the synagogue he may well be accommodating the language to the situation of later Christian times when this punishment was inflicted on Christian Jews, including perhaps some of John s own readers. The putting out applied in Jesus time to those who defended Him would have been of a less formal nature. Formal excommunication is believed to have begun ca. A.D. 85, when the curse against the minim, or heretics, was introduced into the 18 Benedictions. 24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give God the praise! A solemn appeal to tell the truth in its Old Testament form (see Joshua 7:19) We know that this man is a sinner. This is the affirmation the Jews seek: If, as he claims, Jesus has cured him, it can only be at the 6

7 expense of having violated the Sabbath law, thereby constituting Himself a sinner. 25 He replied, If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see. The man refuses to debate with the Jews on their own ground concerning what constitutes a sinful violation of the Sabbath. He testifies to the one thing that is undeniable. 26 So they said to him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? 27 He answered them, I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too? The demands for repetition of the man s story are a study in frustration. They are seeking to attack the story on some detail or another. The man is fully aware of their intentions and makes no attempt to be diplomatic. By his accent on the too he reminds the Jews of the unpleasant fact that Jesus is gathering disciples despite their efforts. 28 They ridiculed him and said, You are that man s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! In their reply, the Jews, zealous for the Law according to their own conceptions bring out the contrast (see John 1:17). 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from. Moses has spoken with God, but Jesus origins are unknown. The Christian knows that Jesus is the one who speaks what He hears from His Father and is the only one who has seen God. 30 The man answered and said to them, This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. 32 It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything. The man becomes quite bold in his answers. This gives us an example of the Christian who must testify fearlessly to the truth. Invoking a common biblical theme (Isaiah 1:15; Proverbs 15:29) he proves with irrefutable logic that Jesus could be no sinner but must be from God. The only Old Testament cure from blindness is found in Tobit 11:7-13, but Tobit was not born blind. 34 They answered and said to him, You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us? Then they threw him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? Having been rejected by the Pharisees, Jesus offers him the opportunity to make the ultimate act of faith. 36 He answered and said, Who is he, sir that I may believe in him? The man does not ask about the meaning of son of man, he asks rather that Jesus point him out. 37 Jesus said to him, You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he. In words reminiscent of the story last week (the Samaritan woman at the well), Jesus points to 7

8 Himself. 38 He said, I do believe, Lord, and he worshiped him. Having progressed from man, to prophet, he now recognizes Jesus true identity and addresses Him with the title of Christian faith. 39 Then Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind. The effect of the judgment brought about by Jesus call to faith is that many, like the Pharisees, falsely believing that they already possess the light, reject the revelation of God. 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, Surely we are not also blind, are we? 41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, We see, so your sin remains. The Pharisees correctly recognize that Jesus words apply to them. If only they realized the extent of their own blindness, there would be hope that they would seek for light. What makes their case hopeless is their smug complacency. St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Picayune, MS [A] Fourth Sunday of Lent Hans Urs von Balthasar 1. "To make the blind see and the seeing blind" The Gospel's long and dramatically told story of the healing of a man born blind culminates in the following alternatives: whoever recognizes that he owes his sight (his faith) to Christ, ultimately enters the light through the pure grace of the Lord; whoever thinks he sees and believes on his own account, without owing it to grace, is already blind and will ultimately be blind. That is Jesus' parting shot at the Pharisees: "If you were [merely] blind that would be no sin. But we see', you say, 'and your sin remains'." The man who was blind from birth, who Jesus encounters at the outset, does not ask Jesus to make him see, nor does Jesus ask him if he wants to see. He is simply an object of demonstration in which God's power is to be made obvious. Then he slowly becomes a complete believer. Initially he obeys without understanding: "Go wash yourself... And the man went off and washed." Then he has to face up to his healing without knowing who had healed him. When he faces the Pharisees he becomes bolder and confesses that he believes his healer to be a prophet and, when his parents reveal fear at his confession, he gains the courage to challenge his opponents ("Don't tell me you want to be his disciples too?"), indeed, he is prepared to be tossed out of the synagogue. With that he is ready to encounter Jesus and, when Jesus reveals who he is, to worship him in faith. From hopeless darkness he grows into the purest light of faith, entirely through the power of a gift of grace he never asked for; a faith whose logic he follows obediently, a faith that, like a mustard seed, grows in him until it becomes a huge tree. 8

9 2. When we consider in the first reading the events of the choosing of David, we find in them confirmation that the smallest one, the one of whom no one (neither Jesse nor Samuel) expected much, suddenly becomes the right one, the one chosen by God, the one who surpasses all his brothers. "Not as man sees does God see", the prophet seeking the one to be anointed king is told. "From that day on", not before, it reads, "the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David", a spirit that permitted him to develop into a symbol and ancestor of Jesus, a prophet who, in the tragedies of his old age anticipates something of the Passion of his descendant much as the grace-gifted blind man was ultimately thrown out of the synagogue. 3. The second reading simply admonishes us to live as "children of the light". All of us have followed the path of the man born blind: "There was a time when you were in darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord", that is, through the Lord, who is the light of the world, you are taken up into his light, and therefore you must "live as children of the light". As such, like the man born blind, we should bring the darkened object to the Light and hand it over, so that, flooded with light, it can become visible and, if it lets itself be handed over, can itself become light. Here, as in the great narrative of the Gospel, it becomes clear that Jesus' light not only illumines but transforms what it illuminates into a light that radiates and enlightens alongside his light. F r o m L i g h t o f t h e W o r d b y H U v o n B a l t h a s a r 1993, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, Used with Permission, All Rights Reserved Father Phillip Bloom Sight (Homily for Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A) Bottom line: This Sunday we ask Jesus for sight: to see those near us - their heart, not just their appearance - and above all to see the reality of who Jesus is. Today we heard about a blind man who - through Jesus - sees. We are like that man: we need Jesus in order to see. Our modern world has a particular form of blindness. We have microscopes to see things very small and telescopes to see distant objects, but often we do not see what is closest to us. Recently a priest classmate had a health crisis that almost cost his life. I learned about it late and felt bad that I had not been there to support him. I did try to make up as best I could, but the incident made aware of an irony: I knew about Charlie Sheen's troubles, but about my friend, I knew nothing. We live in a strange times. We know more about celebrities than we do about next door neighbors - or even those we call "family" and "friends." So many things distract us from what really matters. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: "I think the world today is upside down.... We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world." 9

10 This Sunday we ask Jesus to heal our blindness, particularly our failure to see those close to us. Help us to see our own children, our family members, our fellow parishioners. As the first reading today says, not just the outward appearances, but the heart. It is terrible to not see those close to us, but there is an even worse form of blindness: the failure to see Jesus. The man born blind has a lot to teach us. If you listened attentively to today's Gospel, you notice that he went through a progression that involves four stages. At first he only sees "the man called Jesus." He knows Jesus as a fellow human. When they press him, however, he makes this declaration: "He is a prophet." Then he has a moment alone with Jesus. He hears this question: "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" In the Old Testament the Son of Man was someone who would come to set things right by judging the nations. (Dn 7:13-14) The man born blind responds with a profound profession of faith, "I do believe, Lord." In the Hebrew Scriptures the title, "Lord," belonged to God himself. In today's first reading that the word LORD appears six times - in capital letters. When the man born blind calls Jesus, "Lord," he is making the ultimate profession of faith. For that reason, an act of adoration immediately follows: "He worshiped him." Jesus himself said, "Before Abraham came to be, I AM." (Jn 8:58) The man born blind saw what others did not: That Jesus is God. As we say in the Creed, "God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father." So the man born blind takes these four steps in seeing Jesus: First, "man" - a fellow human, then prophet (one who speaks for God), then judge ("Son of Man) and finally, Lord - the one true God. This Sunday we ask Jesus for sight: to see those near us - their heart, not just their appearance - and above all to see the reality of who Jesus is. Amen. Father Phillip Bloom is Pastor of St. Mary of the Valley St. Mary of the Valley Catholic Church Monroe, WA. All Rights Reserved. Fourth Sunday of Lent Timothy J. Calvert O.P. A New Vision This Gospel does not tell of the healing of a blind man, as we find in the other Gospels, but of a man blind from his birth. What's the difference? I can imagine losing sight, although it's hard to begin to appreciate the courage it would require to live with the loss of what is so easily taken for granted. But how does a person born blind experience the world? How do they imagine things known through the other senses, but never seen, never looked upon? That this man in the Gospel is born blind is no peripheral detail. He has not lost a capacity for light; he did not have it from the beginning. He does not deal with light, darkness, shadow and reflection. Jesus will not restore sight to this man: he will grace him with a capacity he has never had. This miracle does not point just to the restoration of our human nature, but also to its total re-creation. 10

11 'Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.' What Jesus is to do will bear a resonance of the very beginnings of creation: he will reach into the very origins of human beings, and do something that has never been done before, restore their capacity for the light which shines in the darkness. As God made man from the dust from the ground, so Jesus remakes the man born blind with the dust of the Jerusalem street, and forms him anew. As the first man received the breath of life and became a living being, so this man is anointed with the dust mixed with spittle from the mouth of Jesus, and becomes transformed beyond recognition. His neighbours will ask of him 'is this the same man who used to sit and beg.' Like Jesus manifested after his resurrection, he is not easily recognisable, so deep and profound is the transformation that has happened to him. Until this point the man has been a passive witness in the story -- almost 'without form and void'! Now he finds his voice, and begins to speak for himself. His parents refuse to answer for him -- his present state is beyond anything he received from them. He even begins to question the Pharisees who have come to question him: with his sight has come an increasing insight into who Jesus is, and the gift he brings. So the man owes his new being not to his parental origins, or to his pedigree in the Law of Moses, but to the sudden unearned gift of the encounter with Jesus. Falling down to worship Jesus, he recognises him not just as the source of his sight, but more importantly as the origin of a whole new way of being. In Jesus we are elevated into a new life. As the man born blind received a new capacity, a new way of experiencing the world, so too we receive a new capacity for a deeper way of life, to come to experience the familiar world around us in the unfamiliar light of Jesus, who is forever the Light of the World. Our parents in the garden had their eyes opened, but they saw how far we had fallen from God, saw their nakedness and were ashamed: we have our eyes opened in a new way, as did the disciples at Emmaus when they saw the Lord in the scriptures and the breaking of bread; and we perceive the new clothing of our humanity with the divine nature. We have received the capacity for living this new life in our baptism, when the Lord anointed us with his own Spirit. But this capacity in us weakens through sin: we become more accustomed to darkness than to this new divine light. And so each year we pass through this holy season of Lent, when we open ourselves to the healing touch of Jesus, and prepare once more to see the world anew in the blazing furnace of the paschal fire: a light lit in a darkened tomb two thousand years ago, nevermore to be put out. The English Province of the Order of Preachers 2013 Used with permission All Rights Reserved 11

12 Opening the Eyes of Faith Gospel Commentary for 4th Sunday of Lent Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher 1 Samuel 16:1b.4a ; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 The healing of the man blind from birth hits close to home, because in a certain sense all of us are blind from birth. The very world was born blind. According to what science tells us today, during millions of years there was life on earth, but it was life in a blind state. The eye for seeing did not exist yet, sight itself did not exist. The eye, in its complexity and perfection, is one of the functions formed more slowly. This situation is reproduced in part in the life of every man. A child is born, though not precisely blind, at least incapable of distinguishing things clearly. Only after weeks he begins to focus. If the child could express what he experiences when he begins to see clearly the face of his mother, of people, of things, of colors -- how many "oh's" of awe would be heard! What a hymn to light and sight. To see is a miracle, only we don't pay attention to it because we are too accustomed to it and we take it for granted. It is here that God sometimes acts in a sudden and extraordinary way, aiming to take us out of drowsiness and make us alert. That is what he did with the healing of the man blind from birth and of other blind people in the Gospel. But is this the only reason that Jesus healed the man blind from birth? There is another sense in which we were born blind. There are other eyes -- besides the physical ones -- that should open themselves to the world: the eyes of faith! They allow a glimpse of another world beyond that which we see with the eyes of the body: the world of God, of eternal life, the world of the Gospel, the world that does not end -- not even with the end of the world. This is what Jesus wanted to remind us of with the healing of the man blind from birth. Before anything else, he sent the young blind man to the pool of Siloam. With this, Jesus wanted to signify that these different eyes, those of faith, begin to open up in baptism, precisely when we receive the gift of faith. That's why in ancient times baptism was also called "illumination," and being baptized meant "having been illuminated." In our case, it's not about believing generically in God, but believing in Christ. The Evangelist avails of the episode to show us how to arrive to a full and mature faith in the Son of God. The blind man's recovery of his sight happens, in fact, at the same time that he discovers who Jesus is. In the beginning, for the blind man, Jesus is no more than a man. "The man called Jesus made clay " Later, he was asked, "What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He responded, 12

13 "He is a prophet." He has taken a step forward; he has understood that Jesus is sent form God, which he speaks and acts in his name. Finally, finding Jesus again, he exclaims, "I do believe Lord," and he bows before him to worship him, thus openly recognizing him as his Lord and God. In describing all of this with so much detail, it is as if John the Evangelist very discreetly invites us to ask ourselves the question: "And me? In what point am I on this path? Who is Jesus of Nazareth for me?" That Jesus is a man, no one denies. That he is a prophet, one sent from God, is also admitted almost universally. Many stay at that point. But it is not enough. A Muslim, if he is coherent with what is found written in the Koran, also recognizes that Jesus is a prophet. But not for that is one considered a Christian. The leap by which one passes to be a Christian in the true sense is when he proclaims, like the man blind from birth, that Jesus is "Lord" and adores him as God. Christian faith is not primarily to believe in something -- that God exists, that there is something beyond -- but to believe in someone. Jesus in the Gospel does not give us a list of things to believe; he says, "Believe in God; believe also in me" (John 14:1). For Christians, to believe is to believe in Jesus Christ. [Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic] Innovative Media, Inc. 13 Fr. John Riccardo Baptism Bestows Sight and Faith We are now a mere three weeks from the celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This means that we are a mere three weeks from the day when a number of adults who have been diligently praying and studying about the Church will receive the sacrament of baptism. More or less since last June, these men and women, together with a number of others who have already been baptized but are not in full communion with the Catholic Church, have been meeting every week together, reading Scripture, studying the Catechism, and asking some very frank questions of me, of the other priests and teachers, and above all of God, I hope. The odd thing in all of this is that many of these men and women, when they become Catholic, will know far more than many of us who ve been Roman Catholic our whole lives, if for no other reason than they have made a great effort to learn.

14 Because we are so close to the night when those who are not yet baptized will receive the sacrament, our readings at Mass are aimed in a very particular way at them, to help them better understand what is going to happen when they enter into the waters of this font. But though the readings are especially for them, God is also speaking to us who have already been baptized, calling us to reflect on our own lives. Let s see if we can make some sense, then, of what God is saying to us in His Word today. First, we must stress this simple point. Baptism is no mere ceremony. It is not merely about a man or woman standing up in front of us saying they re serious about living as a disciple of Jesus. That may be true, but the Gospel and Second Reading today are driving home the point that baptism does something to us and in us. When a person is baptized this is experienced in a profound way, especially when that person is an adult. A fundamental change happens because baptism is not our work, it s not something we do; rather baptism is something God does in us. And one of the things that God does in us in baptism is being highlighted for us in the Gospel today. What is that thing? Baptism enables us to see. Baptism, because it is God s work not ours, because it is the sacrament whereby the Holy Spirit truly begins to dwell in a man or woman in a unique way that was not there before, opens up our eyes, just as really as Jesus opened up the eyes of the man born blind in the Gospel. That man born blind stands in a special way for those of you here now who will soon meet Jesus in this font in three weeks, just as that man met Jesus in the Temple 2000 years ago. Baptism gives us the gift of faith. That s a word we toss around frequently in the Church but what does it mean? It s crucial to understand that faith, like baptism, is not our work, it s not the result of our doing. Faith is God s work in me and in you, and it begins in earnest in baptism. What does faith, what does this work of God do? Well, by faith, by God s Holy Spirit at work in me, I can see. See what? See the truth, first of all about Jesus. Faith, which again and again we need to stress, is not blind. It is a way of knowing, of knowing that Jesus is not a mere man. He s not simply a wise teacher or a prophet or someone who had some nice ideas about how we could all live better together. Faith enables me to see that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who has become man for me and died for me. This is hinted at in the Gospel as the man who was blind is questioned and progressively comes to know the truth about Jesus. He first identifies Jesus as the man, then later a prophet, and finally as the Lord before whom he kneels down and adores. This is the primary reality that faith, that is God s work in me, does. He opens my eyes to who Jesus is and to what He has done for me. The Holy Spirit reveals to me, by faith that God is on a cross, suffering in a body He has taken from Mary, for my sins and that He has died for me out of His great love, because He does not want to me to die, or anyone else for that matter. But, and this is key, to this work of God in me, to this opening of my eyes, I must respond, I must choose to use my eyes and I must yield, I must surrender my life. Those who are soon to be baptized, this is what you re saying to us about why you re here, why you want to join the Church. You re saying, and this has to be clear, I no longer want to live for myself but for Him who had died and risen for me. This is the response God is looking for. But as those of us who ve already been baptized pray for you and prepare to celebrate with you and to 14

15 welcome you into the Body of Christ, how can we not reflect on our own lives? This is what the first half of Lent has been about, or was supposed to be about. The weeks up until today were aimed at reflecting on our own walk with God, aimed at asking where we need to change, where our faith is superficial, fluffy, or weak. Please God, we have, by His grace, taken the time to look inwardly and see where we can change and make some changes, however modest those changes may be. Now, though, our focus in Lent begins to change. From here on our eyes turn from where we need to change to the cross. From here on in the Church begins to zoom in on God s incredible gift of Himself for us on the cross. From here on we stare, starkly, at all He has done for us in His great love and mercy. In these final three weeks of Lent, then, let us pray in earnest for those soon to be baptized. But let s pray for ourselves and one another. Let us ask God to continue to open up our eyes to what He has done for us. Let us ask Him to heal our blindness, which has taken for granted His cross. Let us ask Him to help us to see reality as it is truly is, what is important and what s not important. And let us respond like never before by daily surrendering ourselves to Him who is Love. Fr. John Riccardo, Pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Plymouth, MI 15