(Laetare! Rejoice! Halfway through Lent to Easter!)
March 2, 2008, 4th Sunday of Lent: the man born blind
Exodus 17:1-4 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 John 9:1-39
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.
Jn 9:1-7: Physical blindness
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 and 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.”
Jn 9:8-21: Spiritual blindness
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.”
Jn 9:22-34: More spiritual blindness
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 of the synagogue.
Jn 9: 35-39: Spiritual sight
When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man 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. I who speak with you am 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Sent to open eyes
The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah to come would open the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind. (Is 35:5; 42:7) On his way one day from Sidon to Lake Galilee Jesus came upon a deaf-mute. With spittle he touched the man’s ears and tongue, and with a deep groan he cried out, “Be thou opened!” At once the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened. (Mk 7:31-35) When Jesus came to Bethsaida they brought a blind man to him, and after a couple attempts with spittle, Jesus succeeded in opening the man’s eyes. (Mk 8:22-25) When he and the disciples came to Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus earnestly beseeched Jesus to give him sight. Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has made you well.” (Mk 10: 46-52)
Spiritual blindness & Lenten repentance
The classic story of Jesus curing a blind person is traditionally reserved for the fourth Sunday of Lent, cycle A. A man born blind is cured by Jesus on a Sabbath. His neighbors are perplexed and take him to the Pharisees. The spiritual leaders undertake a busybody investigation into the case. They summon the man and ask how is it that he can now see? He says a man named Jesus put mud on his eyes and now he sees. The Pharisees reject the thought that God would work a cure through a man who would violate the Sabbath. God does not work on a Sabbath, and He expects man not to work on a Sabbath, even if it is to work a miracle.
Then the Pharisees drag the man off to his parents and ask how it is that their son now sees? Afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue, they say they know nothing about the matter and tell the Pharisees to ask their son who can speak for himself. Again the Pharisees pull the man off to the side for further interrogation. By now he is exasperated and cries out, “I have already told you, but you do not listen. Must I tell you again!” When the simple man asks the spiritual leaders whether perhaps they might be interested in becoming a follower of Jesus, they bodily throw him out of the synagogue.
It is a classic story about a blind man whom Jesus has power to cure and about blind leaders whom Jesus has no power to cure. In fact, in its length and emphasis the story is more about the Pharisees than it is about the man cured by Jesus. From beginning to end it is a classic story about spiritual blindness and deafness -- a malady lodged not in our eyes and ears but in our hearts and minds -- a malady which calls for Lenten repentance.
Last Sunday’s gospel about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, read in its entirety, rambles on for a good forty verses. This Sunday’s gospel is a rambler also, and there is a liturgical notation allowing it to be shortened. However, the lengthier and more rambling reading has a plus: it gradually builds up to a frustration which has us (as it had the once-blind man) crying out to his religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear?”
Frustration
It is obvious there is a shortage of priests everywhere which worsens every year. It is also obvious that burnout is overcoming the few priests who are left. (In the United States today there are more priests over 90 than there are priests under 30!) It is obvious that the shortage is really man-made, for there are many fine young men out there who cannot become priests simply because they want also to be husbands and fathers. It is also obvious that it is a great waste not to reap that harvest, especially in this period of great need. It is also obvious that importing clergy from foreign lands who cannot speak English very well or ordaining married deacons or turning Mass into a Communion service are not serious attempts to solve our problem; they are band-aids. All that seems obvious to many of us, and frustrated we find ourselves crying out at our religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear?”
More frustration
In a letter of Oct. 23, 2006 Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked his fellow bishops to inform all pastors that non-ordained ministers of holy Communion (called “extraordinary ministers”) will no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels after Mass! (That permission was granted back in 2002, and Rome refused to renew it in 2006.) As a whole system of pastoral care built up over a period of a thousand years, providing each congregation with a pastor to care for it, is now collapsing before our very eyes, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is concerned about who may or may not do the dishes after Mass! Frustrated we find ourselves crying out at our religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear!
A few years ago, Rev. Sarah (a Presbyterian minister) and I officiated together at the funeral of her mother-in-law, the wife of a friend. In a gothic cemetery chapel Rev. Sarah clothed in clerical garb read eloquently from the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31, which sings the praises of a woman who is a good mother, wife, and manager of her household. At the final commendation Rev. Sarah invited the crowd in the cemetery to draw near to the casket which was being kissed by a setting sun on a day filled with the feel of fall. Eloquently again Rev. Sarah pulled everyone into a heartfelt final good-bye to her mother-in-law.
It was obvious that Rev. Sarah liked what she was doing and that she did it very well. As I (approaching the ranks of the 90s) watched attentively, I found myself quietly exclaiming, “See how the Presbyterian Church has solved its crisis of ministry! See how it ordains women!” A bit frustrated I found myself quietly exclaiming at my church, “For God’s sake, can’t you see what the Presbyterian Church sees?”
Listening
When for a second time the Pharisees, spirituals leaders of the synagogue, ask the cured man how is it that he can now see, the frustrated man exclaims, “I have already told you, but you do not listen.” (Jn 9: 27)
On the day of his inauguration Pope Benedict, supreme spiritual leader of the church, promised to listen. In fact, he chose Benedict as his new papal name because St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order, counseled his abbots (spiritual leaders of the abbey) to listen to and learn from the least monk in the community. In his inaugural homily the new pope promised that his “program of governance would be to listen together with the whole Church.”
In an open letter to the new pope in the NCR, Fr. Francis Gonsalves, a Jesuit in India , praised the new pope for his promise to listen. That, he claimed, is very important in view of the fact that, “Many Indians who religiously listen to God’s voice in nature and in other faiths and in their neighbors complain that the Roman Catholic Church only speaks but never listens.” An old dictum said Roma locuta, causa finita. (When Rome speaks, that’s it!) The dictum should have given us pause but it didn’t. It simply sent us all as silent sheep on our way.
In an open letter of our own to the pope we write,
Dear Benedict, we, the people of God, welcome your speaking on the great issues that belabor the church, like birth control, divorce and remarriage, intercommunion, sacramental confession, sexuality, homosexuality, celibacy and the ordination of women. Your teaching is, indeed, valuable and useful for us. But we also welcome your listening to the people of God as we debate those issues. Your listening will, indeed, be very valuable and useful for you.
We welcome a church which sees her teaching not as erroneous but as inevitably impoverished before the ineffable mystery of God. We welcome a church which does not claim to have the last word about the important issues which belabor us, but rather the first word. That is a word which launches the whole church off into a holy conversation in which everyone teaches and everyone listens. We welcome a church which resists the temptation to control or direct the conversation toward predetermined conclusions.
Dear Benedict, we welcome a church that listens to the people of God who are always speaking, and speaking in different ways. Some speak with their feet by simply leaving the church. When, in fact, you (a cardinal from Germany and not from Africa) was elected as pope, some said the College of Cardinals wished to draw attention not to Africa where the church is alive and well but to western Europe--to Spain, France, Germany, and Italy, where a great number of the people have spoken with their feet and have left the church!
Others speak not by leaving the church but by simply ignoring official teaching. Without your help they solve (or leave unsolved) issues like birth control, divorce, homosexuality, sacramental confession, etc., and then they quietly participate in the sacramental life of the church which for various reasons they have no intention to leave.
Conclusion
Sent to open eyes and blind them
That rambling story about the man born blind ends with a line from the mouth of Jesus. It indicts the spiritual leaders and all of us, and at the same time it declares Jesus’ mystic mission to open eyes and blind them.
"I have come into this world so that the blind should see,
and those who see should become blind"
(Jn 9:39).
Translation:
I have come into this world
to show those who see everything
and who have a last word about everything
and who only talk but do not listen
that they are spiritually blind and deaf.
And I have come into this world
to give sight to those who see that they do not see
and who, like Bartimaeus, earnestly beseech the Lord to see
and then do not shrink from what they see.
And I have come into this world to give hearing to those
who not only speak but also listen,
and then do not shrink from what they hear.
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
March 2, 2008, 4th Sunday of Lent: the man born blind
Exodus 17:1-4 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 John 9:1-39
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.
Jn 9:1-7: Physical blindness
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 and 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.”
Jn 9:8-21: Spiritual blindness
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.”
Jn 9:22-34: More spiritual blindness
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 of the synagogue.
Jn 9: 35-39: Spiritual sight
When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man 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. I who speak with you am 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Sent to open eyes
The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah to come would open the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind. (Is 35:5; 42:7) On his way one day from Sidon to Lake Galilee Jesus came upon a deaf-mute. With spittle he touched the man’s ears and tongue, and with a deep groan he cried out, “Be thou opened!” At once the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened. (Mk 7:31-35) When Jesus came to Bethsaida they brought a blind man to him, and after a couple attempts with spittle, Jesus succeeded in opening the man’s eyes. (Mk 8:22-25) When he and the disciples came to Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus earnestly beseeched Jesus to give him sight. Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has made you well.” (Mk 10: 46-52)
Spiritual blindness & Lenten repentance
The classic story of Jesus curing a blind person is traditionally reserved for the fourth Sunday of Lent, cycle A. A man born blind is cured by Jesus on a Sabbath. His neighbors are perplexed and take him to the Pharisees. The spiritual leaders undertake a busybody investigation into the case. They summon the man and ask how is it that he can now see? He says a man named Jesus put mud on his eyes and now he sees. The Pharisees reject the thought that God would work a cure through a man who would violate the Sabbath. God does not work on a Sabbath, and He expects man not to work on a Sabbath, even if it is to work a miracle.
Then the Pharisees drag the man off to his parents and ask how it is that their son now sees? Afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue, they say they know nothing about the matter and tell the Pharisees to ask their son who can speak for himself. Again the Pharisees pull the man off to the side for further interrogation. By now he is exasperated and cries out, “I have already told you, but you do not listen. Must I tell you again!” When the simple man asks the spiritual leaders whether perhaps they might be interested in becoming a follower of Jesus, they bodily throw him out of the synagogue.
It is a classic story about a blind man whom Jesus has power to cure and about blind leaders whom Jesus has no power to cure. In fact, in its length and emphasis the story is more about the Pharisees than it is about the man cured by Jesus. From beginning to end it is a classic story about spiritual blindness and deafness -- a malady lodged not in our eyes and ears but in our hearts and minds -- a malady which calls for Lenten repentance.
Last Sunday’s gospel about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, read in its entirety, rambles on for a good forty verses. This Sunday’s gospel is a rambler also, and there is a liturgical notation allowing it to be shortened. However, the lengthier and more rambling reading has a plus: it gradually builds up to a frustration which has us (as it had the once-blind man) crying out to his religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear?”
Frustration
It is obvious there is a shortage of priests everywhere which worsens every year. It is also obvious that burnout is overcoming the few priests who are left. (In the United States today there are more priests over 90 than there are priests under 30!) It is obvious that the shortage is really man-made, for there are many fine young men out there who cannot become priests simply because they want also to be husbands and fathers. It is also obvious that it is a great waste not to reap that harvest, especially in this period of great need. It is also obvious that importing clergy from foreign lands who cannot speak English very well or ordaining married deacons or turning Mass into a Communion service are not serious attempts to solve our problem; they are band-aids. All that seems obvious to many of us, and frustrated we find ourselves crying out at our religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear?”
More frustration
In a letter of Oct. 23, 2006 Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked his fellow bishops to inform all pastors that non-ordained ministers of holy Communion (called “extraordinary ministers”) will no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels after Mass! (That permission was granted back in 2002, and Rome refused to renew it in 2006.) As a whole system of pastoral care built up over a period of a thousand years, providing each congregation with a pastor to care for it, is now collapsing before our very eyes, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is concerned about who may or may not do the dishes after Mass! Frustrated we find ourselves crying out at our religious leaders, “For God’s sake, can’t you people see and hear!
A few years ago, Rev. Sarah (a Presbyterian minister) and I officiated together at the funeral of her mother-in-law, the wife of a friend. In a gothic cemetery chapel Rev. Sarah clothed in clerical garb read eloquently from the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31, which sings the praises of a woman who is a good mother, wife, and manager of her household. At the final commendation Rev. Sarah invited the crowd in the cemetery to draw near to the casket which was being kissed by a setting sun on a day filled with the feel of fall. Eloquently again Rev. Sarah pulled everyone into a heartfelt final good-bye to her mother-in-law.
It was obvious that Rev. Sarah liked what she was doing and that she did it very well. As I (approaching the ranks of the 90s) watched attentively, I found myself quietly exclaiming, “See how the Presbyterian Church has solved its crisis of ministry! See how it ordains women!” A bit frustrated I found myself quietly exclaiming at my church, “For God’s sake, can’t you see what the Presbyterian Church sees?”
Listening
When for a second time the Pharisees, spirituals leaders of the synagogue, ask the cured man how is it that he can now see, the frustrated man exclaims, “I have already told you, but you do not listen.” (Jn 9: 27)
On the day of his inauguration Pope Benedict, supreme spiritual leader of the church, promised to listen. In fact, he chose Benedict as his new papal name because St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order, counseled his abbots (spiritual leaders of the abbey) to listen to and learn from the least monk in the community. In his inaugural homily the new pope promised that his “program of governance would be to listen together with the whole Church.”
In an open letter to the new pope in the NCR, Fr. Francis Gonsalves, a Jesuit in India , praised the new pope for his promise to listen. That, he claimed, is very important in view of the fact that, “Many Indians who religiously listen to God’s voice in nature and in other faiths and in their neighbors complain that the Roman Catholic Church only speaks but never listens.” An old dictum said Roma locuta, causa finita. (When Rome speaks, that’s it!) The dictum should have given us pause but it didn’t. It simply sent us all as silent sheep on our way.
In an open letter of our own to the pope we write,
Dear Benedict, we, the people of God, welcome your speaking on the great issues that belabor the church, like birth control, divorce and remarriage, intercommunion, sacramental confession, sexuality, homosexuality, celibacy and the ordination of women. Your teaching is, indeed, valuable and useful for us. But we also welcome your listening to the people of God as we debate those issues. Your listening will, indeed, be very valuable and useful for you.
We welcome a church which sees her teaching not as erroneous but as inevitably impoverished before the ineffable mystery of God. We welcome a church which does not claim to have the last word about the important issues which belabor us, but rather the first word. That is a word which launches the whole church off into a holy conversation in which everyone teaches and everyone listens. We welcome a church which resists the temptation to control or direct the conversation toward predetermined conclusions.
Dear Benedict, we welcome a church that listens to the people of God who are always speaking, and speaking in different ways. Some speak with their feet by simply leaving the church. When, in fact, you (a cardinal from Germany and not from Africa) was elected as pope, some said the College of Cardinals wished to draw attention not to Africa where the church is alive and well but to western Europe--to Spain, France, Germany, and Italy, where a great number of the people have spoken with their feet and have left the church!
Others speak not by leaving the church but by simply ignoring official teaching. Without your help they solve (or leave unsolved) issues like birth control, divorce, homosexuality, sacramental confession, etc., and then they quietly participate in the sacramental life of the church which for various reasons they have no intention to leave.
Conclusion
Sent to open eyes and blind them
That rambling story about the man born blind ends with a line from the mouth of Jesus. It indicts the spiritual leaders and all of us, and at the same time it declares Jesus’ mystic mission to open eyes and blind them.
"I have come into this world so that the blind should see,
and those who see should become blind"
(Jn 9:39).
Translation:
I have come into this world
to show those who see everything
and who have a last word about everything
and who only talk but do not listen
that they are spiritually blind and deaf.
And I have come into this world
to give sight to those who see that they do not see
and who, like Bartimaeus, earnestly beseech the Lord to see
and then do not shrink from what they see.
And I have come into this world to give hearing to those
who not only speak but also listen,
and then do not shrink from what they hear.
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
