Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
And Are You Trying to Teach US? Then They Threw Him Out.
1. Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare Sunday, so called from the first word of the entrance antiphon. Laetare “Rejoice,” taken from the Latin translation of Is. 66:10-11. We celebrate joyfully as we anticipate Easter Sunday 3weeks from today. The Gospel reading relates the story of the man born blind, whose eyes were opened by Jesus, demonstrating that Jesus is the world’s light. He came to cure us of our blindness if we accept that we are blind. So, how do you react when someone you feel inferior to you tries to tell you something you don't want to hear? Or the person accuses you of not listening to him. You are infuriated and tell him to get out of your sight. It doesn’t matter whether the person is telling you the truth. You feel they have no right to tell you anything. Instead of facing the truth about your life, you ask the wrong question. Who sinned? The question presupposes blame. Who is responsible for your bad situation in life?
2. When faced with national and natural disasters, sickness, and devastation, we always ask the wrong question: who sinned? We find faults and look for the culprit. But are we asking the right question? Christ directs our thoughts beyond the wrong question. Could we use the misfortune of others to correct the mess in our life? “Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed: do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But if you do not repent, you will perish as they did!” (Lk. 13:4-5). So, to the question: “Who sinned?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” Through the permissible will of God, evil can bring about some good for those who are prepared to learn from the mistakes of others. Like from the dead of Jesus on the Cross, we are told, by your Cross, you have redeemed the world. The death of Jesus became the means of our salvation, and the wood of the Cross became the tree of life for us. In the face of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, landslides, mudslides, fire disasters, or otherwise, our question should not be, ‘Who sinned?’ It should open our eyes to see how God’s glory could be manifest through our pain and suffering.
3. Today’s readings point us away from the darkness of sin to Christ, the light of the world, as seen in the cure of the man born blind. Christ came into the world to destroy the darkness that envelopes us so we may be bathed in his light. Maybe we have been too complacent to the extent that we cannot see Christ in our midst. We must open our eyes and wake up from our spiritual blindness so Christ may shine in our lives. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth… awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.
4. We are all blind in one way or the other. Our blindness may be physical, moral, or spiritual. Physical blindness, like the man born blind, maybe our inability to see with our eyes. But that does not mean the blind person is disabled. When we are deprived of one sense, like sight, touch, smell, taste, or hearing, other senses are heightened and enabled to fill in for the lost one. We are morally blind when we fail to see or deny our defects. Spiritual blindness may be caused by an inability to relate to Jesus due to ignorance, hatred, anger, or lack of forgiveness. Today, Jesus cured the blind man of his physical and spiritual blindness. He healed the blindness of those around him and convicted those who felt they could see. They were blind and refused to recognize Christ in their midst. They were blinded by their hatred of Jesus and projected that hatred onto the man born blind.
5. God is able and capable of healing our blindness. He can raise us from obscurity to greater heights, as he did for David in the first reading. Christ came to cure our blindness, physical, moral, or spiritual. But we must go to him. This, again, is the process of coming to faith in Christ. Before baptism, we were in darkness, but after baptism, we are washed in the water of rebirth and anointed, like David, and raised to the exalted position of king. Our understanding and knowledge of Jesus must grow exponentially, like the man born blind, from seeing Christ simply as a man – “The man called Jesus made a clay and anointed my eyes.” To a prophet – “He is a prophet.” And finally, Lord – “I do believe, Lord.”
6. Being a disciple of Jesus may cost us everything. The blind man had to surmount many social difficulties. He endured insults, abuses, ex-communication, and abandonment by his parents. But he had a simple faith: he obeyed Jesus. He went to the pool and washed his eyes. His obedience was rewarded with the gift of sight, a symbol of his faith. He confronted the Pharisees: “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind, and now I see. I told you already, and you did not listen. “This is so amazing that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would be unable to do anything.” With his newfound faith, the man is now a disciple of Jesus. We are called to be missionary disciples of Jesus, like the man born blind from now on.
7. I ask you, brothers and sisters: “Are we blind, or do we claim that we can see?” Christ warns: “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still blind.” If we refuse to acknowledge our shortcomings and open our eyes to see those in need around us, we condemn ourselves to darkness and deprive ourselves of the gift of faith and the light of Christ. Are we blind to our faults? Do we blame others and ask: “Who Sinned?” Or do we simply drive those we don’t care about away? The greatest of our weaknesses is to be conscious of none. The time is now to pick up our bible and read. The sacrament of reconciliation is still an option for Catholics. The area priests will gather for confession on March 23 at 7:00 pm at St. Joseph’s Monastery. Let us ask Christ to remove our blindness in the sacrament of reconciliation as we are washed clean to celebrate the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. Let us be less cynical but trust in the goodness of people. To do this is to recognize that Jesus is always in our midst. He wants to cure us of our blindness. The problems in our lives are never insurmountable for Jesus. The question is not ‘who sinned?’ but so that God’s works might be visible through us. Amen!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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