Homily:
4th Sunday in Lent – Cycle A
Friends,
as we continue through these middle weeks of Lent—truly the “heart” of Lent—we hear
the second of three encounters with Jesus that these weeks present to us. In the first encounter, we reflected on the
Samaritan woman that Jesus encounters at the well. There, Jesus uses some clever tactics to
catch the woman’s attention and to open her heart to him. When she does, Jesus helps her to see herself
as she truly is. Why? Because he wanted her to feel ashamed? No!
Rather, because (as he said) “the hour is coming, and is now here, when
true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the
Father seeks such people to worship him.”
This woman had faith, and Jesus could see it. She could not worship truly, however, if she
continued to avoid the truth about herself.
Having met Jesus, she believes that he is the Messiah, the one for whom
they have been waiting, and she forgets her shame and testifies to all the good
news she has encountered.
This
week, we are presented with the encounter of Jesus and the man born blind. Here again we see the theme of how acknowledging
the truth of the reality of one’s life leads to faith and worship. Contrary to the story of the Samaritan woman
at the well, in which there seems to be a “mutual” encounter (both Jesus and
the woman came to the same well), this encounter is one that Jesus initiates,
seemingly without any prior interaction with the man. Jesus and his disciples pass by this man, begging
in the street, and when the disciples question Jesus about this man’s
condition, Jesus declares a truth about him (“[He is blind]… so that the works
of God might be made visible through him.”) and then proceeds to heal him. No mention is made of this man saying
anything to or asking anything from Jesus or his disciples. Jesus, it seems, through supernatural
knowledge, knew that this man was specially chosen by the Father “to make
visible his works” and so healed him on the spot.
Then,
through various scenes, we hear this man repeatedly declaring the truth about
the reality of his life. First, the
people of the town who knew him start to question whether this man who can see
really was the man that they had always known to be blind. When questioned, the man answers simply, “I
am”. When they ask him how he is now
able to see, he replies with the barest facts.
Then, they brought him to the Pharisees, who also asked the man how he
is now able to see. Again, he replies
with the barest facts. The Pharisees
attempt to label Jesus as a sinner (and so, not from God) because he did work
on a Sabbath, but the man is not convinced of this and so will only say the
most sure thing that he can think to say about Jesus: “He is a prophet”.
The
Pharisees, frustrated that they could not goad this man into claiming Jesus to
be the Messiah so that they could punish him, call in the man’s parents to
question them. The parents also respond
to questioning with the barest facts: “Yes, this is our son. Yes, he was born blind. No, we do not know how he is now able to see.” Frustrated, the Pharisees call the man back
in to pressure him to acknowledge that Jesus is a sinner for having done what
was considered “illegal work” on a Sabbath.
Still, the man will not say what he does not know to be true: “If he is
a sinner, I do not know…” the man says, “One thing I do know is that I was
blind and now I see.” The man is living
in the truth of the reality of his life and not going beyond it.
The
Pharisees, on the other hand, show themselves unwilling to acknowledge the
truth of the reality that is presenting itself before them. Rather, they are twisting and turning over
themselves trying to deny the truth that is being presented so as to preserve
reality as they’ve know it. In spite of
the testimony of multiple persons that this man truly had been blind from
birth, but yet now can see, and in spite of the man’s own testimony that it had
been Jesus who cured him, they continue to seek to renounce Jesus, because they
see him as a threat to destabilize their way of life and thinking, instead of
opening themselves to the truth of the reality that is being presented to
them. They even claim to have remote
knowledge—“We know that God spoke to Moses”—yet refuse to acknowledge the
reality that is more immediate to them—“…but we do not know where this one is
from.” The man calls them out for their
hypocrisy: “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from,
yet he opened my eyes.” In the end,
Jesus will turn the tables on these Pharisees and note that they are the ones
who are truly blind, since they refuse to acknowledge the truth that has been
presented to them.
Finally,
after the Pharisees threw the man out of the synagogue in frustration, he
encounters Jesus once again. As he did
with the Samaritan woman, Jesus seeks an expression of his faith in the Messiah:
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” When
the man responds in the affirmative, Jesus reveals himself completely to him: “You
have seen him,” (pun intended, I
think) “and the one speaking with you is he.”
The man believes. The man
believes and immediately lowers himself in adoration of Jesus, worshiping God
in Spirit and truth.
Friends,
the reality of our lives is that, in many ways, we are blind: both because of
our human limitations, which keep us from seeing the full truth of the cosmic
reality of God, and because our sins, small and big, blind us even further to
this truth. This journey through the
heart of Lent invites us to an encounter with Jesus—who can open our eyes to
the truth—and to allow his love and mercy to purify our sight. This will happen when we allow his
penetrating light to enter our hearts.
In this Mass, as we acknowledge him present on this altar, let us
confidently open our hearts to him and his merciful light. In doing so, we will be moved to worship him,
as the man born blind did, and also be inspired to declare the truth about him—simply,
yet confidently—to those around us, inviting them to encounter the same, and thus
renewing God’s Church.
This
is the work of Lent; and it is a joyful work.
May the grace of this Eucharist continue to strengthen us for this holy
work.
Given in Spanish and English at Saint Paul Parish: Marion,
IN
March 18th, 2023
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel,
IN
March 19th, 2023
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