SET FREE FROM BLINDNESS IN THE TEMPLE
March 19, 2023
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

One of the really scary moments of my childhood involved helping Mr Rutten, our next door neighbor pour a slab of concrete in his backyard. I filled the pail and set it down too hard on the walkway and a thick cloud of fine cement powder flew up directly into my eyes. I remember laying on the couch, with stinging, scratched eyeballs, and my mom constantly flushing my eyes out with a water-drenched warm wash cloth.

The gift of eyesight is so precious. I cannot begin to imagine being born blind from birth. I cannot imagine not seeing the diversity of colors, the glory of a spectacular sunset, the panoramic view from the top of a hill, the perfect soft delicacy of a newborn baby’s hands or feet, the thrill of watching a movie or reading a book.

I can’t imagine the joy on the blind man’s face, flushing his eyes with crystal clear water in the pool of Siloam and, all of a sudden, there is this rush of light streaming through his now opened eyes opening them to the bright beauty all around him.

But your miracle caused some of the Pharisees to pout and puff about doing the work of making a salve on the Sabbath day. They could not comprehend your teaching that the Sabbath was made for human beings and not human beings for the Sabbath.

They were unable to see with their hearts, shaped by your Heart. Were they still hanging on to that idea that this poor man’s blindness was a result of his sin? How ludicrous!

And on top of that they threw the blind man who now sees out of their places of worship, the Temple and the synagogue. What kind of family pushes its children away?

Jesus, I see, but help me to see with my heart, like you see!

• Do I really see other people with my heart, a heart filled with a tender compassion, which draws me close to them?

• Is my perspective skewed away from your way of seeing others, especially my sisters and brothers who are marginalized or vulnerable or judged and condemned?

• Is my perspective always aligned, Jesus, to your perspective?

• Am I too weighed down by the darkness near and far to recognize the many ways you continue to bring light into the world?

• Do others see the light of your love shining through me?

Dear Jesus, shine through me and be so in me that every person I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only you, Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen. (attributed to Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman)