Homilies

4th SUNDAY OF LENT: FROM BLINDNESS TO SIGHT, FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

THE GOSPEL BEGINS with an account on the encounter of Jesus with the man born blind. All his life, the latter had recognized people by their voices only. Now, with Jesus’ healing on him, he was able to see what human faces look like. While some people have recognized him, it is also surprising that some of his neighbors did not wish him well of his cure.

The usual enemies of Jesus came to the fore. They were Pharisees who distrusted the marvelous deed that Jesus had done to the man who was born blind. Because Jesus did the healing on a Sabbath, they judged him as man “who is not from God.” Jesus must have realized that it was easier to cure the man who was physically blind than the Pharisees who are “spiritually” blind. He has a longer and harder struggle with the Pharisees who are sick of spiritual blindness.

What is the significance of the gospel story on us? I can think of two things:

First, we can associate ourselves with the Pharisees whose stubbornness of heart precludes them from seeing the truth. This happens in ordinary relationships, friendship for instance. Most people do not want to see the hard truth, for some reasons. Some fail to see the truth because of fear that they might hurt their friends or family members. Our deliberate blindness does not actually help the relationship. We might be sustaining or protecting the relationship, but it does enrich the relationship. Why? Because we allow people to live in lies; not in the truth.  In these cases, we are in need of the healing grace of God.

Second, we can also associate ourselves with the man born blind. It is interesting to note that the vision, recognition or knowledge of Jesus did not happen overnight. In other words, he did not recognize Jesus immediately. When Jesus asked him whether he believes in the Son of Man, his reply was, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

There are two things which are of importance to us:

On the one hand, we should try to live in light. St Paul has something to tell about this spiritual blindness or darkness. In the second reading, he told the Ephesians, “You were once darkness, but now you are light of the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” This is true! Living in light is related to living in truth. As children of light, we must be a sign of hope to the world. Our light produces goodness which can be a source of inspiration for others.

On the other hand, our journey of faith is also comparable to the journey of the man born blind. First, he knew of Jesus as a “man Jesus.” Next, he called Jesus as a prophet. Lastly, he addressed Jesus as Lord. Thus, there is a progress in his knowledge of God. In comparison, we also had been born blind until we were baptized. When we were baptized, our knowledge of God was only insignificant. But the Church expects it to grow while we grow older. It is expected that while we grow in age, we should also grow in our “seeing’ or knowledge of God. Thus, there should be progress and development in our understanding and knowledge of God. We must not stop exploring the depth and the width of the knowledge of God.

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