Sunday Reflection - FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ephesians 5: 8-14; John 9: 1-41

(Rev. Dr. Francis Perry Azah)

The verse preceding today's Gospel introduces the central point of our celebration. "I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will have the light of life" (John 8:12). The entire liturgy therefore celebrates the mystery of Christ - the light of the world; the light which dispels the darkness of our minds and our hearts. We celebrate Christ, who heals our spiritual blindness. The three readings help us to see a sharp contrast between light and darkness, spiritual sight and spiritual blindness. In the first reading, Samuel struggles as it were in darkness, trying to find a king. The prophet Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to a man called Jesse, who had eight sons. Samuel was sent by God with a very precise mission.

Israel had wanted a king to be like the other nations. Saul was the first king, yet in the end, he proved to be a failure. God had chosen one of Jesse's sons to be the next king, so He sent Samuel to anoint one of them. But which of the sons did God want? Samuel can only succeed in finding the young David when he begins to see as God sees. Jesse, the father, was confounded. “How did you know which one to choose?” “How come you picked what looks like the weakest and the least capable to do this work?” The prophet Samuel looked at Jesse and said, “I will tell you how I did it. Man looks at appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” What a wonderful lesson.

Today’s gospel reading is about blindness. It leads me to put forward that you and I look at the answers to some important questions -- What are we looking at? What should we be looking at? What are we looking at that we shouldn't be? What are we looking at and should be paying attention to? Every day, there are so many things clamoring for our attention. Most often, some of those things are so stressful that, to escape, we give our attention to distractions, trivia, unimportant things, or merely entertaining things. It’s a sort of voluntary blindness. It’s a form of denial. I’m sure we all recognize that the account we have just heard about the man born blind is not simply an account of physical blindness and the recovery of eyesight.

The real cure lies in spiritual blindness. The truth is, we don’t see well at all, whether it's seeing God or seeing other people. Beyond that, there is the matter of seeing and paying attention to the deeper realities hidden within the people and events that we encounter during our daily lives. There are other important things we ought to be looking into. Our relationships with our families, for instance. Many of us have not given serious attention to our relationships with our husbands, our wives, our children, and our relatives. Neglecting a serious examination of them leads to family miseries. We need to give our relationships our close attention; otherwise, they can be taken for granted.

The story of the man born blind in the Gospel is not so much about the man being healed, but about seeing as God sees. Here we meet a blind man with sight, as compared to the intellectual Pharisees who are blind spiritually. What a privilege for the blind man to have met Jesus and been healed by him. What a privilege for him to have Jesus touch his eyes and bring him sight. Yet, who would think that a paste of clay applied to one’s eyes and then washed in the Pool of Siloam would restore the blind man’s sight? (John 9:6-7) But Jesus worked through clay and water. Jesus used ordinary elements around us in nature to convey his healing power. Jesus gave the gift of sight by using matter.

The blind man could feel the clay paste on his eyes; he could feel Jesus touching his eyes; he could hear Jesus; and he could feel the water washing the clay off. He could not see Jesus, but Jesus came to him through touch and hearing. The blind man came to Jesus through faith in healing power, while the ones who can see physically, the Pharisees, came to darkness. There is real drama in the relationship between the blind man and his interrogators. His neighbors cannot believe that he is the same man who was blind. The Pharisees also object to the cure taking place on the Sabbath.

The parents of the blind man, reacting out of fear, told the Pharisees to question the blind man instead of them. Finally, the Pharisees stated that Jesus was a sinner, and they threw the blind man out of the temple. The blind man is abandoned by neighbors, rejected by parents, and expelled by the Pharisees. Nevertheless, the blind man acts as a courageous witness to the work Jesus was doing. Ultimately, the blind man comes to faith gradually, first by calling Christ the man Jesus, then a prophet, then the one from God, and finally Lord. In all these, the Pharisees imposed on themselves a blindness of the heart and soul.

We live in a strange time. We know more about celebrities than we do about our nearby neighbors - or even those we call "family" and "friends." So many things distract us from what really matters. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once 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." This Sunday, we ask Jesus to heal our blindness, particularly our failure to see those who are closest to us. Help us to see our own children, our family members, our fellow parishioners. As the first reading of today says, we should not just look at the outward appearances, but the hearts of people around us.