4th Sunday of Lent
Jesús Salazar, L.C.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ, our King, Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord, come and be light in the darkness of my heart, Master, make me see!
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to John 9, 1-41
At that time Jesus saw a man born blind, and his disciples asked him, “Teacher, who sinned that this man was born blind, he or his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither he sinned, nor his parents. He was born so that the works of God might be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day, for then night comes and no one can work any more. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world”.
Having said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the spittle, put it on the blind man's eyes and said to him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam (which means ‘sent’). He went, washed and came back with sight.
Then the neighbors and those who had seen him begging for alms before asked, “Isn't this the one who sat begging for alms?” Some would say, “It's the same one.” Others, “It is not he, but he resembles him.” But he said, “I am he. And they would ask him, ”Then how were your eyes opened?“ He answered them, ”The man who is called Jesus made mud, put it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.‘ So I went and washed and began to see.’ They asked him, ”Where is he?“ He answered them, ”I don't know.“.
Then they brought before the Pharisees the one who had been blind. It was the Sabbath day when Jesus made mud and opened his eyes. The Pharisees also asked him how he had acquired his sight. He answered them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see”. Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. Others replied, ”How can a sinner do such wonders?“ And there was division among them. Then they asked the blind man again, ”And you, what do you think of him who opened your eyes?“ He answered them, ”That he is a prophet.“.
But the Jews did not believe that the man, who had been blind, had regained his sight. So they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How is it that he now sees?” His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. How he now sees, or who gave him his sight, we do not know. Ask him; he is old enough now and will answer for himself.” The parents of the one who had been blind said this out of fear of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore his parents said, “He is old enough; ask him.”.
They called back the one who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner”. He answered, “If he is a sinner, I do not know; I only know that I was blind and now I see. They asked him again, ”What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?“ He answered them, ”I have already told you, and you have not given me credit; why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?“ Then they insulted him and said to him, ”You will be his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses. But that one, we don't know where he comes from“.
The man replied, “It is strange that you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he listens to those who fear him and do his will. It has never been heard of anyone opening the eyes of a man born blind. If he did not come from God, he would have no power at all”. And they said to him, “You have been pure sin from birth, how can you teach us? And they cast him out.
Jesus knew that they had cast him out, and when he found him, he said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him; the one who is talking to you, that is he.” He said, “I believe, Lord.” And he fell down and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to him, “I have come into this world so that the fields may be defined: that the blind may see, and those who see may be blinded.” When some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this, they asked him, “Then are we blind also?” Jesus answered them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say that you see, you are still in your sin.”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
This is the experience of each of us who, to some extent, are blind; our weak condition does not let us see clearly and we grope our way through life. This condition is not forever! There is a great hope, even when we do not see it, and it is Jesus who comes near, touches the mud of which we are made and restores us to the condition for which we were created, to walk in light and truth. But not everything remains there. Jesus touched the blind man's eyes, but sent him to wash in a very specific place.
The blind man had nothing to lose by taking a little water but, after perhaps having received so many scorns and jokes in his life, because of the culture of the time, what guaranteed him that this time it would be different? The greatness of this man is that he had faith and did what the Lord asked of him. Every day the Lord touches us in different ways, he calls us, he «primes us» as Pope Francis would say. Nevertheless, our little faith sometimes constitutes the obstacle that does not allow God to act as God. He respects our freedom and the only thing he asks of us in return to work his greatness is a little faith.
The Pharisees were furious at such a great wonder. They did not want to believe what their eyes saw but, in the spirit, they were the truly blind ones, as Jesus himself says. They were the religious people, the ones who always complied, the ones who were always supposedly close to God. That was not the bad thing, but their heart was so hardened and full of pride that they were not able to recognize God's work. They thought they knew everything, that they could teach everything, and so they judged others with their own parameters. Jesus comes to break schemes. What kind of blind man am I? Let us answer this question with all sincerity before God: Am I the blind man who judges, or am I the blind man who seeks? Today the Lord wants to give us back our sight; let us listen to his voice and give him glory with our life that begins to be reborn in the Spirit who gives us the light.
«It is interesting to note how the miracle is narrated in just two verses, in the others the attention is placed not on the recovered blind man, but on the discussions he triggers. It seems that his life and especially his healing becomes banal, anecdotal or an element of discussion, as well as irritation and anger. The healed blind man is questioned at first by the astonished crowd, then by the Pharisees; and they also question his parents. They doubt the identity of the healed man; later they deny God's action, using as an excuse that God does not act on the Sabbath; they even doubt that the man was born blind. The whole scene and the discussions reveal how difficult it is to understand the actions and priorities of Jesus, capable of putting in the center the one who was in the periphery.»
(Homily of H.H. Francis, June 2, 2019).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Today, after the Sunday Eucharist, I will remain for a while in the tabernacle asking the Lord to give me back the sight I need so much in my spiritual life.
Farewell
We thank You, Lord, for all Your benefits, You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
