Gospel: John 9, 1 – 41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—. So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is, “but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
Homily
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I thought of this incident as I read the Gospel for this Sunday because it exemplifies what happens so often in life when those in authority try to use power to get their way and someone normally of little or no power stands up for what he/she believes or knows to be the truth.
The gospel story is the story of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus. Jesus, we must remember, has been having a running battle with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time. If the healing of the blind man is accepted as true, Jesus would have gained a great victory over them and they see themselves as losing power. For them the big issue is not truth, it is power and so nothing must be allowed which could have the effect of lessening their grip over the people. The Pharisees therefore badger everyone around to get them to say that the healing did not occur. According to the Pharisees, because the incident took place on the Sabbath, it could not be a true healing for to heal on the Sabbath was against the law. In their thirst for power, the Pharisees took on to themselves the ability to say what God could do or would do and demanded that everyone agree with them or suffer the consequences. Their question to the man born blind does not yield the desired result. He proclaims Jesus to be a prophet. The Pharisees then question the parents of the man born blind. The Gospel tells us that “they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue.” So they reply to the Pharisees. “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” Not getting any comfort from the answer of the parents, the Pharisees return to the attack against the man born blind and eventually threw him out of the synagogue (tantamount to excommunication) because he refuses to change his story and proclaims Jesus to be a prophet; “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” Because of his fidelity to the truth the man born blind comes into a personal relationship with Jesus who is truth itself. The Pharisees, whose only concern is the retention of power, do not accept the truth, they seek ways to circumvent the truth, all in the interest of power and so never come into a relationship with Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.
This Gospel story shows us how easy it is to resist the truth because of prejudice; “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Remember the opening question of the Gospel passage; “As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” The passage also teaches us how the lust for power can blind us to the truth.
As we celebrate Lent and seek to build habits of the Kingdom in our lives we must apply these lessons of the Gospel to our own lives and we must ask ourselves how often ethnic and class prejudices blind us to the truth, how often the lust for power be it political or religious or otherwise lead us to circumvent the truth. To celebrate the Easter mysteries with mind and heart renewed, the habit of holding on to the truth whatever the cost must become part of our lives. If it does not become part and parcel of our lives we are no better than the Pharisees who because of their prejudices and lust for power remained in their sin.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God we thank you for those disciples who, like the man born blind, show us that it is possible to stand for the truth in spite of persecution and suffering. As we live this period of Lent help us to build the habit of always standing for the truth even in the small things so that when huge concerns confront us we will be able to respond as persons of truth following the example of persons like Mons. Romero who gave his life as a witness to the truth. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and your son Jesus. Amen
