3-19-23 4th Lent - Fr. Leo Schneider

4th Sunday of Lent, 2023  - Fr. Leo

 

“I am the light of the World.” Jesus

The ancient tension between light and darkness is shown in todays Gospel from John.  Blindness, which is the experience of darkness has been the life long experience of the man born blind to whom Jesus comes.  As the sources of all light, material and spiritual, Jesus heals the man who can not see. For the blind man it is a cause of great rejoicing.  He was once blind and now he can see.

If any one of us had experienced or witnessed Jesus’ healing, we would be amazed.  We would rejoice with the man born blind.  But not so for some who were there that day.  Jesus broke the law by healing on the Sabbath.  For the religious legalist, this was a sin.  For them the law was more important than an act of love.  

The next part of the narrative highlights the tension between saying Jesus did a good thing, and the politically correct response of calling it sinful.  The parents are terrified, under pressure they admit the man to be their son and was blind from birth, but they must betray their joy by saying they didn’t know how he could see,  “He is old enough, ask him.”  The blind man who can now see is betrayed by his own parents who want to hang on the prestige of being members of the temple

The tension escalates and the Pharisees question the man again.  It’s obvious they aren’t going to see the truth and when the man born blind challenges them they set about demonizing the one who can now see.  This highlights that the truly blind are those who can not see Jesus and admit to his goodness and love.

We are in a finger pointing culture.  Everyone else is to blame.  This culture of hate will never end until be can begin to see the Lord in everyone.   Jesus’ love is universal.  He rains on the just and the unjust.  Only he knows ultimate truth and what will lead us there. Meanwhile, ours is to love and let love make us one that we can live in harmony.  If this is how we would describe heaven, a place of peace and harmony, then we are called to move in that direction now so that God’s peace may reign over all.

Let us pray for the gift of sight that we may grow in wisdom and knowledge and come to be able to choose love first, even when it seems to come at a cost.  It is a payment that will set us free and will fill us with the living active love of God now and always. May God so bless us in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!