Fourth Sunday of Lent
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Homily
Scripture: 1Sam. 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a, Ps. 23, Eph. 5: 8 -14, Jn 9: 1 – 41
"God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart."
"He was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed in him." -Jesus
"The effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth."
Theme: "It all about what and how we see." Can we see God at work to change the world?
Last Sunday, we saw Jesus give the promise of a living water to a woman from Samaria. Today we witness Jesus giving sight to the blind, all different aspects of our baptismal consecration (quenching of our thirst, and new vision of God all around us). Next Sunday we will hear the Lord Jesus talk of resurrection and life (he thus addresses our fear of death).
Today, we may just want to consider the various perspectives on who Jesus is and what Jesus does, by various actors in the gospel story:
- For the beneficiary of the positive change in his life, the man born blind (Jn 9: 25), "all I know is that I was blind and now I can see". He then proclaims that Jesus is a prophet with a solid backing criterion that God does not listen to sinners (except their cry for mercy).
- For the leaders of the people, Jesus is a Sabbath-Law breaker. He challenges their power by his Spirit-Authority. That very challenge is the main criterion to declare him a sinner. They are essentially puzzled by the question, "How did he open your eyes?" They see what there is to see, but they do not know how this works. They remain unchanged.
- The parents see the change from blindness to sight. That very change is what others cannot recognize, thinking this is a different person, because such change cannot really take place. This is too good to be true!
- For the common people, "this is great/amazing!" They see the act of goodness, and all goodness is from God whenever goodness serves a good purpose.
St Paul whom we hear from in the letter to the Ephesians is the man who experienced God as light for the eyes to see and voice for the mind to understand all about the Name of Salvation: Jesus Christ. When he says that, "everything exposed by the light becomes visible," and "everything that becomes visible is light," he is talking about what he saw and what he has become by God's grace. We remember of course Martin Luther King Jr who saw what was coming into this great nation: children growing together, just as children. What we see therefore, and how we see it matters immensely; and Jesus wants to give us sight and teach us how to use our vision for God's kingdom.
An story from the Ancient World (let the reader find out about the Book in the First Testament and its references)
Balaam got up and saddled his donkey and set out with the chiefs of Moab. His going kindled Yahweh's anger, and the angel of Yahweh took his stand on the road to bar his way. Balaam was riding his donkey and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, and she turned off the road into the open country. Balaam then struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. The angel of Yahweh then went and stood on a narrow path among the vineyards, with a wall to the right and a wall to the left. The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and scraped against the wall, scraping Balaam's foot against it, so he struck her again. The angel of Yahweh then moved and stood in a place so narrow that there was no room to pass either to right or left.
When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam flew into a rage and struck the donkey with his stick. Yahweh then gave the donkey the power to talk, and she said to Balaam, 'What harm have I done you, for you to strike me three times like this?' Balaam answered the donkey, 'Because you have been making a fool of me! If I had been carrying a sword, I should have killed you by now.' The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey, and have I not been your mount all your life? Have I ever behaved like this with you before?' 'No,' he replied. Yahweh then opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head and threw himself on his face. And the angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Why did you strike your donkey three times like that? I myself had come to bar your way; while I am here your road is blocked. The donkey saw me and turned aside because of me three times. You are lucky she did turn aside, or I should have killed you by now, though I would have spared her.' Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, 'I have sinned. I did not know you were standing in the road to stop me. But if what I am doing displeases you, I will go home again.' The angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, 'Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.'
Closer to us in time are stories of great artists like Michaelangelo who would see a specific form in a plain piece of wood; they would then work hard to free that which they saw, from the wood by creating the space for escape that represents the reality viewed at first sight.
Let us pray for God's vision for us and for our world, and may our communion with the life of Christ help us see as he sees the Creation of his Father.
