Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A

Gospel Reading: John 9: 1- 41

1  As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

2  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?"

3  "Neither he nor his parents sinned," Jesus answered "hewas born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

4  As long as the day lasts I must carry out the work of the one who sent me; the night will soon be here when no one can work.

5  As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world."

6  Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the bind man

7  and said to him, "Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam" (a name that means 'sent'). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

8  His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?"

9   Some said, "Yes, it is the same one." Others said, "No, he only looks like him. The man himself said, "I am the man."

10  So they said to him, "Then how do your eyes come to beopen?"

11  "The man called Jesus" he answered "made a paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, 'Go and wash at Siloam'; so I went, and when I washed I could see."

12 They asked, "Where is he?" "I don't know" he answered.

13  They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees.

14  It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man's eyes,

15  so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, "He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see."

16   Then some of the Pharisees said, "This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath." Others said, "How could a sinner produce signs like this?" And there was disagreement among them.

17   So they spoke to the blind man again, "What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?" "He is a prophet" replied the man.

18  However, the Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his parents and

19  asking them, "Is this man really your son who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he is now able to see?"

20  His parents answered, "We know he is our son and we know he was born blind,

21  but we don't know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself."

22  His parents spoke like this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ.

23   This was why his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him."

24  So the Jews again sent for the man and said to him, "Give glory to God! For our part, we know that this man is a sinner."

25  The man answered, "I don't know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see."

26  They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

27  He replied, "I have told you once and you wouldn't listen. Why do you want to hear it all again? Do you want to become his disciples too?"

28  At this they hurled abuse at him: "You can be his disciple," they said "we are disciples of Moses:

29  we know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don't know where he comes from."

30   The man replied, "Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don't know where he comes from!

31   We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but God does listen to men who are devout and do his will.

32  Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind;

33  if this man were not from God, he couldn't do a thing."

34  "Are you trying to teach us," they replied "and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!" And they drove him away.

35   Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

36   "Sir," the man replied "tell me who he is so that I may believe in him."

37  Jesus said, "You are looking at him; he is speaking to you."

38  The man said, "Lord, I believe", and worshipped him.

39  Jesus said: "It is for judgement that I have come into this world, so that thosewithout sight may see and those with sight turn blind."

40  Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, "We are not blind, surely?"

41  Jesus replied: "Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty; but since you say, 'We see', your guilt remains."

Meditation

Once again, like last Sunday, we have a long passage. However, you must read it in its entirety because, with great artistry, St John has woven three stories into one, each interacting with the others and shedding light on them like the different colours in a painting. In your meditation follow up one story at a time, the one that happens to touch you right now.

  Verses 8 to 38 : This is the story of the man born blind who gradually comes to the point where he worships Jesus (verse 38). It is the long, often painful, journey of a person who is called to see life in a new way and as a result makes a new commitment.

 The story is told in four stages: vs. 8 - 12; 13 - 17; 24 - 34; and 35 - 38. You will notice (and recognize from your own experience) how he sees more and more clearly at every stage that this is a call from God which he can trust. He also experiences more and more opposition and rejection, until the moment when he is lost, the same moment when he is found by Jesus.

Verses 13 to 40 :  The Pharisees (called "the Jews" in the last part of the passage) make an opposite journey, becoming more and more blind. Trace the stages of their journey: vs. 13 - 17; 18 - 23; 24 - 34, coming to the pathetic climax in verse 40. Recognize from your experience, and with great humility, how religious people can become complacent that they know God's will, and in the process become more and more intolerant and violent towards those who oppose them. Notice at every stage the contrast between them and the man born blind.

Prayer 

 Lord, we remember with great gratitude the times when you opened our eyes to see that we needed to change:

• to relate at a deeper level with you, with members of our family, with friends;
• to give ourselves more fully to the service of the poor;
• to turn away from a relationship that had us in bondage;
• to live more simply.

 We remember the long journey you led us on,

• those first days when all we knew was that something important was happening to us;
• how it became clearer that it was you who were calling us;
• the painful time when, as we became more confident,
  we faced opposition, ridicule and rejection.

We remember that beautiful moment

• when we were lost but knew that you had found us;
• when we felt certain that you were speaking to us;
• when very easily and spontaneously we worshipped you.

 "This is the test of human knowledge of God, that he does not know God." St Thomas Aquinas

Lord, we thank you that you came into our lives so that we who were without sight would see.

"When we love the other, we obtain from God the key to our understanding of who he is and who we are."
 Thomas Merton

Lord, forgive us Church people that we let ourselves become Pharisees:

• confident that we know what is your will, who is from you and who is not;
• unwilling to accept that people should come to the light outside of our ministry;
• hiding from the evidence before us and taking refuge in pious words;
• violent to those who challenge our wisdom.
        

 We ask you Lord to work a miracle for us this Lent:

• that we may go and wash in some Pool of Siloam,
• and come away with our sight restored.

 Forgive us, Lord,  for taking for granted that when people are poor  it is because they or their parents have sinned.
 Send us Jesus to remind us that every single person was born
 so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

"If we take care of the means we are bound to reach the ends sooner or later."   Gandhi

We pray for those who are worried about the future.
 Help them to accept that the night will soon be here when no one can work.
Teach them that as long as the day lasts they must carry on the work of the one who sent them, and that as long as they are in the world  they are called to be the light of the world.

"The saving of the world from impending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming  majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a non-conforming minority." Martin Luther King