Questions. So many questions. What's striking about today's account of the healing of the blind man at the
pool of Siloam is the presence of so many questions. We begin with a question that Jesus' disciples ask: They wonder who was
responsible for this man's blindness. The disciples assume that this man is blind because someone had sinned, a
common belief in the ancient world. The blind man's neighbors ask questions, wanting to know how he recovered his
sight. The Pharisees, as always, ask many questions about who Jesus is, about how he
broke the law in curing this man on the Sabbath. It's striking that the Pharisees' questions are so condemning; they aren't
concerned with the blind man's welfare – they do not celebrate his gift of
sight.
In light of all these questions in today’s Gospel, what about the questions we
ourselves in the search for God in our lives? Depending upon what questions we ask and how we ask them, our questions can
either help us to see through the lens of faith, or they can blind us to God's
presence with us. The disciples, the man's neighbors, and others question whether this man was really
blind since birth. In asking such questions, they don’t see the joy and the miracle in what Jesus
did in healing him. They could only ask what their view of the world and their expectations allow them
to envision, which is a very distorted view of reality.
Having been healed, this man is able to live a different life not just because
of his newly obtained sight, but because of his newfound spiritual sight. He recognizes Jesus as the Son of Man, as the light of the world. The Pharisees were never physically blind, but they were blind in a psychological
and spiritual sense. The truth is hidden from the Pharisees by their need to control, in only asking
those questions that they hoped would reinforce their rigid view of God and the
world. They can’t behold the miracles that Jesus performs with awe & wonder, but instead
they try to condemn him & trap him.
In our search for God, in our journey of conversion and repentance during Lent,
we need to be willing to see things differently. We need to ask new questions that will give us honest, insightful answers, that
will allow Jesus to challenge our biases and suppositions, for it's often
difficult for us to see God in our lives in a new way, even when it's before
our very eyes.
“Our Lord Jesus - Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know you
more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by
day.” St. Richard, the Bishop of Chichester,
England, prayed those words to Jesus way back in the 13th
century. In fact, the feast day of St Richard of Chichester takes place this upcoming
week on April 3. Seeing, knowing, and loving God more clearly: Isn't that at the heart of what
our Gospel is about today? Isn't that the heart of our Lenten journey?
The light of God can be given to us in any condition we are in, whether we’re
currently blind, or whether we can already see clearly through the eyes of
faith. We are invited to recognize God's light in Jesus. For the disciples, the Pharisees, and the neighbors of the blind man, opening
themselves up to the light of Christ meant a new understanding of sin, a
different way of looking at the purpose of human life, and the meaning of God's
actions in human history.
What about us? What blindness do we need
to strip away? What questions do we need to ask?
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