This Sunday’s Gospel tells the story of the man born blind…familiar enough to most of us. But have we heard it so often that we miss the underlying themes, the story between the lines of the text? We could focus on the miracle of “new sight” in the physical sense but could go deeper and explore Jesus’ insistence that sin has nothing to do with physical sickness, disability or human tragedy…and in fact, that it is in the midst of tragedy and human suffering that God is present. In the very midst of this global human tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic God is present with us!
Jesus’ words and actions help us to see what the blind man saw…the presence of the Living God! And in that presence we can find HOPE! It is easy enough to just “see” the physical blindness of the man in the Gospel and “lose sight” of the spiritual darkness of his parents who, because of fear, fail to speak the truth on their son’s behalf. Fear of speaking out and failure to stand up for truth and justice makes us blind and keeps us in spiritual darkness, as individuals and as a nation.
In the midst of wars, famine, the pandemic and international and national crises for refugees and immigrants, we are called to be a people who look, and see, who do not turn away from the suffering of our sisters and brothers especially now in this time of such uncertainty and fear. When I look at the world around me, at all the suffering, can I see God’s presence too? Am I called to be there to be used by God like the “man born blind” to show forth God’s glory in the midst of a suffering world? When have I felt God’s presence in the midst of worry and suffering of the coronavirus outbreak? Do I have “blind spots” in my life where I need to ask Jesus for sight, so I may see more clearly my sisters and brothers, as God sees them?
Lenten Blessings,
Fr. Tim
Jesus’ words and actions help us to see what the blind man saw…the presence of the Living God! And in that presence we can find HOPE! It is easy enough to just “see” the physical blindness of the man in the Gospel and “lose sight” of the spiritual darkness of his parents who, because of fear, fail to speak the truth on their son’s behalf. Fear of speaking out and failure to stand up for truth and justice makes us blind and keeps us in spiritual darkness, as individuals and as a nation.
In the midst of wars, famine, the pandemic and international and national crises for refugees and immigrants, we are called to be a people who look, and see, who do not turn away from the suffering of our sisters and brothers especially now in this time of such uncertainty and fear. When I look at the world around me, at all the suffering, can I see God’s presence too? Am I called to be there to be used by God like the “man born blind” to show forth God’s glory in the midst of a suffering world? When have I felt God’s presence in the midst of worry and suffering of the coronavirus outbreak? Do I have “blind spots” in my life where I need to ask Jesus for sight, so I may see more clearly my sisters and brothers, as God sees them?
Lenten Blessings,
Fr. Tim
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