20-Mar-2017 Dear Friend, When we accidentally bump into something or someone, some people ask: “Are you blind? Can’t you see?” We get angry at these remarks because we believe we can see very well. Yet there are times we have to admit we are blind, that we don’t see as well as we should, that we don’t see the obvious, that we can’t see beyond the physical. May His Word open our eyes! Have an insightful Lenten weekend! –Fr. Jude Sunday Ref: Fourth Sunday of Lent “Live as children of the Light! Lord I believe!” 26-Mar-2017 1 Sam. 16: 1,6-7, 19-13; Eph. 5: 8-14; John 9: 1-41;
In the first reading from the Book of Samuel we have the story of Samuel journeying to the house of Jesse for choosing the successor of King Saul. Samuel thought that the chosen one was Eliab, because he was the eldest, the tallest and the most handsome of all the sons of Jesse. But the Lord rejected Eliab and all the seven sons presented as worthy candidates to him. “God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but God looks at the heart.” Finally, the youngest son David arrives, he is not handsome and lacks experience but he has a good heart. David is anointed King because God goes beyond appearances and sees David as the shepherd King of his people. BeardsEarly in his career, young Clarence Darrow was defending a client against an older, more experienced attorney, who sarcastically dismissed Darrow as “that beardless youth”. Darrow rebutted, “My worthy adversary seems to downgrade me for not having a beard. Let me reply with a story: The King of Spain once dispatched a youthful nobleman to the court of a neighbouring monarch, who sneered, “Does the King of Spain lack men that he sends me a beardless boy? To which the young ambassador replied, “Sire, if my King had supposed that you equated wisdom with a beard, he would have sent a goat.” Clarence Darrow won the case.Bennet Cerf The Gospel gives the account of the cure of the blind man on the Sabbath and how, as he progressively sees more and more, the Pharisees who believe they have spiritual insight, see less and less. It starts with the disciples of Jesus, who sees the blind man as a subject of an interesting debate on the cause of blindness. Jesus spat on the ground, made a paste, rubbed it into his eyes and asked him to wash into the pool of Siloam. Incidentally, receiving sight does not come easy. It is a slow process. The focus shifts from the blind man who can now see, to the Pharisees who refuse to see the truth. They question the blind man, they question whether it is proper to heal on the Sabbath, they question whether Jesus is acting with the power of God or the power of evil. The more they try to distort the truth the more the man is adamant in witnessing to Jesus. “How could a sinner produce signs like these?” Not only is his physical sight restored but he grows in faith in Jesus. Initially, he merely states, ‘the man called Jesus did this for me. Next he says, “He is a prophet”. Later he proclaims, “This man is from God”. And when Jesus reveals that he is the Son of man, he finally professes his faith: “Lord, I believe.” In contrast the Pharisees progressively deny the truth and refuse to be open, no matter what the evidence. Jesus said: “I have come into the world so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind.” We have to judge which is worse, being blind or pretending to see when in fact we are blind. Spiritual BlindnessA sixty-year-old woman living in a mid-western town was finally prevailed upon by her family to see the eye doctor. She had never worn glasses in her life. The doctor gave her a thorough test and asked her to return in three days when he would have her glasses ready. He fitted the glasses and asked her to look out of the window. Almost breathless, she exclaimed, “Why, I can see the steeple of our church, and it is three blocks away.” “You mean you have never been able to see that steeple at that short a distance?” asked the doctor. “Gracious no”, she declared, “I never knew I was supposed to see that far.” “Madam”, said the eye expert, “You’ve been going around for years half blind!” Similarly, many cannot see the truth which God has made known to us….Msgr. Arthur Tonne Getting back your sight!“During World War II, John Howard was blinded in an aeroplane explosion and could not see a thing for the next twelve years. But one day as he was walking down a street near his parents’ home in Texas, he suddenly began to see ‘red sand’ in front of his eyes. Without warning his sight had returned again. According to an eye specialist, a blocking of blood to the optic nerve caused by the explosion had opened. Commenting on his experience John said, “You don’t know what it is like for a father to see his children for the first time”. But according to the Gospel something more spectacular happened to the man born blind, for Christ conferred on him, not only his physical sight but also spiritual insight; he opened his eyes of faith, so that the man believed in Jesus as one believes in the sun.”Vima Dasan True VisionOne night a few years ago there was a total eclipse of the moon. Everybody was talking about it. Many stayed up till the small hours in the hope of witnessing it. I ask myself: “Why all this interest in the moon, simply because it is disappearing?” I was convinced that most of those people wouldn’t see a full moon in the sky, much less stop to admire it. It brought to mind the words of Emerson: “The fool wonders at the unusual; the wise person wonders at the usual.”Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ The Allegory of the CaveThe story of the blind man in today’s gospel reminds us of Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’ It is an allegory used to illustrate “our want of education.” There we find all humanity chained in a darkened cave throughout life. These captives can see nothing but flickering images on a wall…shadows, appearances, illusions, which they take for reality. One prisoner, liberated from the chains, makes the arduous crawl upwards to the world of the shining sun. When he returns to the cave with his tales of the new-found source of light and life and warmth it gives, the prisoners think him crazy. They simply deny his experience. It just can’t be. The chains and the amusing images on the wall are reality. Thus his conversion is ridiculed; his invitation is resisted. Clearly there are parallels between the Platonic myth of the cave and the story of the man born blind. Each figure is given new sight. Each is rejected by the inhabitants of the old world. And even the so-called wise authorities would rather cling to their chains and discuss the shadows than embark on the journey of faith.John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’ May we acknowledge our blindness so that we may see anew! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
