Fourth Sunday of Lent03 April 2011 Come, today, and listen to his voice: do not harden your hearts.
First reading 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ When Samuel arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands there before him,’ but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him: God does not see as man sees: man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.
Psalm or canticle: Psalm 22:1-6
Second reading Ephesians 5:8-14
You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light. That is why it is said:
Wake up from your sleep,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
Gospel John 9:1-41
As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?’ ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered ‘he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
‘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.
As long as I am in the world
I am the light of the world.’
Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man, 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.
His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’ So they said to him, ‘Then how do your eyes come to be open?’ ‘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.’ They asked, ‘Where is he?’ ‘I don’t know’ he answered.
They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, 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.’ 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. 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. However, the Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his parents and 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?’ His parents answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind, but we do not know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ 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. This was why his parents said, ‘He is old enough; ask him.’
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.’ The man answered, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ 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?’ At this they hurled abuse at him: ‘You can be his disciple,’ they said ‘we are disciples of Moses: we know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man replied, ‘Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind; if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ ‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.
Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.
Jesus said:
‘It is for judgement
that I have come into this world,
so that those without sight may see
and those with sight turn blind.’
Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, ‘We are not blind, surely?’ Jesus replied:
‘Blind? If you were,
you would not be guilty,
but since you say, “We see,”
your guilt remains.
Reflection
By Jeanne Therese Hilario-Andres
Someone once said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
As humans, we tend to form an opinion and assess others based on how they initially strike us. In our minds, often without knowing it, we label them straightaway and put them into boxes. Are they tall or petite? Chubby or slim? Sloppy or well-dressed? Confident or shy? Friendly or aloof? “Plastic” or sincere? Silly or profound?
But thank God, He does not judge us based on first impressions! In the first reading, we learn how God showed Samuel how to find Israel’s next king: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature… Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” And in the second reading, we are exhorted to “try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”
In other words, God sees deeply into our hearts, which are utterly transparent to His eyes. There is no way to hide from His all-penetrating gaze. Which is why we should learn what it is that truly pleases Him. What does the Lord really desire of us? Is God pleased with an outwardly good appearance, or a façade of faith? Or does He value deep-rooted reverence and humble submission in the heart, a heart that truly wants to please Him?
In many ways, when we fail to see ourselves and others through God’s eyes, we are like the blind man whom Jesus healed in today’s Gospel. But in some ways, we are like the Pharisees, too. When we don’t like or understand what we see, we can fool ourselves with delusions, deceiving ourselves into blindness.
Did the Pharisees “see” what Jesus meant? Yes, the Pharisees SAW, all right! And yet, they chose to ignore the truth about Jesus. They chose to be legalistic, accusing Jesus of sinning by not observing the Sabbath. They only saw what was visible and literal. Of all people, they knew quite well the story of how God chose David to be King. They knew that God wanted them to see into the hearts of men, to find pleasure in goodness and in doing what pleases Him. And yet, their pride prevailed. Jesus was a threat to them. Their pride made them blind.
It may be easy for us to say how utterly wrong the Pharisees were in this story to criticize Jesus, but stop and think— how many times have we ourselves judged God? Whether in private, in our thoughts, or, if we dared, out loud? Have you criticized God’s plan for your life for even just a fraction of a second, or blamed Him for something He allowed to happen in your life? Have you ever questioned Him about the tough choices He has led you to make? Have you ever secretly regretted the times when you followed His will?
Like the man blind from birth, we often cannot see beyond what is humanly visible. Jesus came so that we might see. Like the Pharisees, we see, but with proud human eyes. Jesus wants us to see with the Father’s eyes, with humility, without self-importance.
Jesus came so that the blind may see. Not just to literally heal our sense of sight, but so that we might see, with clear vision and spiritual eyes, the way He sees.
Do you see as Jesus sees? Can you see yourself the way the Lord sees you? Can you see what it is about you that truly pleases Him and gives Him delight? And can you view others as He does, with love, with mercy and compassion, without prejudice or blame?
With the grace of the Holy Spirit, we can.
Wash my eyes and clean my sight, Jesus. Free me from darkness. Heal my blindness. As you did for the blind man in the Gospel, anoint my vision and restore my sight. Forgive me from being quick to condemn or judge others. Forgive me from being harsh and critical of myself and of those around me. Forgive me for being proud. Forgive me for questioning Your will. Pour out Your Spirit on me, Lord, and open the eyes of my heart, that I may see as You see. That I will not judge or choose based on what is outwardly visible, but on what You see and value in our hearts. Let me desire to learn and to see what is pleasing to You, in myself and in others. Let me look at my world through Your eyes. Amen.
Next week on God-speak
Let Your Spirit live in me, O God
