4th Sunday of Lent
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
The primary task of kingship in Israel was service to God. Saul failed at this, serving his own interests instead. For this reason, God rejected him as king. In this reading, God sends Samuel to Bethlehem where one of the sons of Jesse will be anointed to replace Saul. Precisely which of Jesse’s sons has been chosen is not revealed until the end of the reading. This makes the reading all the more dramatic, while at the same time making it quite clear that Samuel is entirely dependent on God to know which son to anoint. The choice of king takes place during a sacrifice to the Lord. This further emphasizes God’s role in the selection of Israel’s next king.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals a man born blind as a sign revealing Jesus as the light of the world. He is the very light that makes the work of God possible in the world.
A recognition story. The blind man never asked to be healed by Jesus. Jesus is the assertive one who did not even speak to the blind man before he healed him. The miracle itself is played down and follows the basic rubrics of miraculous healings. The drama of the story focuses not on the miracle itself, but on the response of the healed man’s neighbors, the Pharisees, and his parents. Throughout this interrogation, the healed man progressively recognizes Jesus to be: a) “the man called Jesus,” b) “He is a prophet,” and c) belief that Jesus is “the son of man.”
The neighbors are not sure what to think about the healed man whom they knew formally as a blind beggar. They question who healed him and how it was done. For some unexplained reason, the healed man is taken to the Pharisees for further interrogation. We are told that Jesus performed the healing ritual on a Sabbath. This so-called Sabbath violation will be the primary interest of the Pharisees. They judge Jesus to be a sinner and question whether he really healed the blind man. In their attempt to disprove that Jesus was the healer, the Pharisees question the healed man’s parents.
The parents give only bare-bones testimony for fear of being expelled from the synagogue by the Jews. This reflects a reality at the time this Gospel was written. It had caused great distress for the Johannine community. It also fractured the relationship between the synagogue and the Church. Finally, the healed man is interrogated once again by the Pharisees. This time the healed man seems more assertive and self-confident. The Pharisees claim to be disciples of Moses, the designation for rabbis. However, in John’s Gospel, authentic disciples of Moses are first of all disciples of Jesus. The healed man is thrown out by the Pharisees but quickly found by Jesus. He professes full faith in Jesus as lord and son of man. This whole story raises the question: Who are the blind and who can really see?
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius