Sunday, March 26, 2017

4th Sunday of Lent Year A - 2017


Today’s Gospel is so rich in symbolism.

One commentary I ready had 10 pages of notes and explanations.
Don’t worry my homily does not have 10 pages.


The mud that Jesus placed on the blind man’s eyes recalls the second creation story in the Book of Genesis.
In that story God created mankind from mud and breathed life into us.

Jesus tells the blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam and the waters in the pool remind us of our baptism.
Baptism is where we received the gift of faith.
Our Baptism is when we became Sons and Daughters of God
When the blind Man washed the mud from his eyes he experiences light and sight or the first time.
His whole world is changed.
Everything is changed for him.
Our Faith should change the way we experience our world
Our Faith like the first sight of the Man born blind should color everything we see and touch.


There are three main characters or groups of characters in the Gospel passage.
Jesus takes the first step toward the blind man and towards broken humanity.
He seeks the blind man out and longs to give him the gift of sight and the light of faith.
God always takes the first step.


Next there is the man born blind.
To be healed he had to respond to Jesus’ request.

Jesus asked him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam
and that is what he did.

He could have brushed Jesus off,

he could have pushed Jesus away when he approached him,

he could have wiped off the mud with his hand or went home to wash it.
  • He did not do any of these things.
  • He did what Jesus asked him to do.
  • He did it right away.
  • He did it without hesitation and his quick and some might say radical response earned him the precious gifts of sight and the even more precious gift of faith.
Sometimes we know what God wants from us and we simply to refuse to do it. Then we wonder why our life has not changed for the better.
The last group of characters were the Pharisees.
In this Gospel they chose to be blind to God’s miraculous presence in the man born blind’s life..

They experienced the power of God, they saw the miracle with their own eyes yet they refused to see or believe.
The Pharisees were dumb founded because such a powerful miracle was performed by a man they thought was a radical sinner who broke the sabbath.
The blind man responded to God’s call and received the gift of faith.


The Pharisees' prejudice and pride kept them from seeing God’s love and God’s miracle.

This Gospel asks us,
challenges us to look at ourselves.


Do we See God's presence in our Live?
or
Are we like the Pharisees who refuse to see God’s love and presence ?
How many miracles have we failed to acknowledge in our lives and the lives of those we love?
What about that .. marriage you thought wouldn’t last?

What about that kid who suddenly turned himself around?

What about that sickness which was discovered in time and healed?

What about the person struggling with an addiction who somehow? finds sobriety after so many relapses?

What about  that long standing argument or fight in your family which seemed to disappear when someone miraculously took the first step toward reconciliation?

What about that moment of peace or experience of beauty which lifts us up and reminds us that we are not alone?
All of us have seen miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle..
Like the man born blind we can chose to SEE the active presence of God in our lives and respond.
Or like the Pharisees we can chose to be blind to it…
The message of this passage is simple


We can choose hope or fear
We can choose light or darkness
We can chose faith or doubt


Let us choose hope Let us chose light let us choose faith