Themes: God is our light in the darkness; where are we willfully blind?

The Man Born Blind—John 9:1–41

As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciple asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” So they said to him, “[So] how were your eyes opened?” He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a Sabbath. 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.” 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. 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.”

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. They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see? His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 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.” 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. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.”

So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” 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.” So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 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?” They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” 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. 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 not be able to do anything.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he." He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. 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.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying ‘We see.’ And so your sin remains”

Music Meditations for the Week

Amazing Grace (sung by Susan Boyle)
Lead Kindly Light (Angelica Garza)
Precious Lord, Take my Hand (NIU Chamber Choir)

Companions for the Journey

This is a short biography or writing from one of the Christian or non-Christian witnesses of our tradition—a person who embodies the theme of the gospel we are studying today:

This story is from Paul O’Reilly, a doctor and a Jesuit from the Mary Hickey Clinic for the Homeless within the Cardinal Hume center in London:

I once had the immense privilege of helping someone to see again. She was a 14-year old girl who had a very serious and very rare infection of the brain called cavernous sinus thrombosis. And she was completely blind for about ten days. And we were all afraid that this would be permanent. According to the books we looked up, once this happens, it usually is permanent. But we put her on all the treatment we could think of and hoped for the best. And for once, the best happened. Almost miraculously, she began to recover and after several weeks her sight was almost back to normal. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so proud of myself. One day, on my ward round, I asked her how it felt to be able to see again. She said she almost felt sorry. Surprised and a little disappointed, I asked her why? She said because she wanted people to go on treating her like they had when she was blind. She explained when she was blind, whenever people came to her, they would touch her to let her know they were there. And they would touch her with great gentleness and love. That hadn’t happened to her before. And she liked that. And now she could see again, she didn’t want them to stop doing that. Seeing is believing. And touching is knowing. Christianity is the ability to see the light of Christ active in the world and to recognize it for what it is—the action and the goodness of God—even when it is present in ordinary people doing ordinary things.

St Paul tells us: ‘You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth.’ He does not say, like a bad preacher would, that we are living in the light; he says we are the light. In calling ourselves Christians we are undertaking the responsibility to be the light of Christ in the World. And this time of Lent is the season in which examine ourselves to discover just how well we have discharged that responsibility in the past year, and in the present moment and in the coming year. It is the time when we ask the three great questions which St Ignatius, the founder of my religious order - asked of himself in prayer every day of his life:
What have I done for Christ?
What am I doing for Christ?
What will I do for Christ?
Once you have seen the light of Christ, your life can never be the same again. Once you have been touched with love, you never want it to stop.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today's session:

“One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”

Living The Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use these personal reflection questions and meditations:

Reflection Questions

What is the difference between physical sight and vision?
John is not telling us that one man was born blind and Jesus cured him, but that we humans are “blind from birth” and we all need healing. What are my limitations, blind spots false notions of God? What leads us to spiritual blindness? (self-absorption, righteousness, unwillingness to change and grow, for example?)
When have I preferred shadows, darkness and illusion in my life? What have been the enlightening moments in my life?
Do we see, really see, the needs around us, or are we willfully blind? How do we deal with those who are willfully blind? Can we?
Why are we born the way we are? Do we believe our bad luck is the result of God’s punishment, or that our good luck is the result of God’s pleasure?
What kind of courage do we need in this day and age to witness to Jesus?
How has your perception of Jesus changed in the course of your own spiritual journey?
Recall some beliefs which were once a part of your life, but which you no longer consider to be true.
Have difficult times in your life affected your faith? In what way?
If Jesus were to ask you, “What is it that you want me to do for you?” what would you answer?
What have been my “blind spots”? Where has God’s grace figured in my enlightenment? How has this enlightenment affected my behavior?
In short, we must do more than “believe”. We must act on our beliefs. What will my action be this week? Where will my light shine this week?
Has anyone ever tried to make me conform to beliefs that were popular and accepted as correct, but which contradicted my own? Have I ever been in a position of power or authority where I tried to coerce others into voicing my opinions or beliefs? Have I ever been intimidated by a person who had power to harm me in some way?
Is there anything in my life right now that keeps me from seeing what God wants me to see?
Has there ever been someone in my life who shed light on my actions, my goals, my relationships? How did I respond?
Have I ever made judgments about someone based on how they looked or acted, or based on commonly held beliefs about such a person? Has anyone ever judged me in this way?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Read the section from John again on the man born blind, and pay special attention to the reactions of the Pharisees. Pharisees have not been well regarded by Christianity as a whole, but the fact is, they were very religious people. God really was the center of their lives, and they saw that the best way to do God’s will was to be very attentive to the laws of Judaism. These were rather strict laws which imposed a considerable burden on those who chose to follow them, and the piety of those who followed the laws was very real. These were, in the main, good people. In fact, when we look at the American Catholic of the 1950’s—rigidly and almost obsessively following “rules” such as abstaining from meat on Fridays, fasting each day of Lent, attending First Friday Masses, Stations of the Cross on Lenten Fridays, being very diligent about frequent confessions and the proper attire for Church—we can see a great resemblance between us and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time. The problem occurs when we think we know God better than anybody else does and proceed to judge others by our own religious standards. Spiritual arrogance is the problem for a lot of us, whether we realize it or not. Have I been confidently smug about my relationship with God because I appear to be a good person? I reflect on a time when I have I been judgmental of someone who made a decision which I thought was a bad or wrong one. Have I ever made a judgment about someone only to discover that I didn’t have the story straight? Did I share my judgment with others and injure this person’s reputation? I reflect on Jesus saying: “since you say ‘we see’ your guilt remains.” I end my meditation with a prayer for true humility which allows me to see the good in others and to realize that all my spiritual gifts come only from God.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

We all have some area of blindness in our lives—usually a habit of the heart that we don't want to acknowledge because it might mean changing. Spend some time reflecting on a fault, flaw or attitude that you really are not very proud of. Speak to Jesus about the difficulty of being honest with yourself, and speak to Him of your desire to work on this character trait during the rest of Lent.

A Meditation in the Ignatian style/Imagination:

Read this passage again from John 9:1-41. Imagine that you are the blind man. What, exactly, is your life like? Where do you live? What do you do every day? How do other people treat you? What do you think when you hear that Jesus is in the area? Why do you do what Jesus says? How do you feel to have your sight restored? Does it make you nervous when you are questioned by the Pharisees? How does your perception of who Jesus is gradually change? Do you believe him only because of the fact that he healed you? What is your life going to be like from now on? Would it change anything about your perception of Jesus if your blindness recurred? Returning to the present day and your 21st century life, reflect on where you need healing, where Jesus has enlightened you, and what your mission is to be in this life going forward. Make a realistic plan.

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem from Mary Oliver, reflecting on whether you have ever been blind to God’s grace:

The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist
Something has happened
To the bread
And the wine.
They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward
To receive the gift
From the priest’s hand,
Then the chalice.
They are something else now
From what they were
Before this began.
I want
To see Jesus,
Maybe in the clouds
Or on the shore,
Just walking,
Beautiful man
And clearly
Someone else
Besides.
On the hard days
I ask myself
If I ever will.
Also there are times
My body whispers to me
That I have.

Weekly Reflections

4th Sunday in Lent, March 22, 2020