4^th Sunday of Lent (A); March 19, 2023

1 Sam 16:1b,6-7,10-13a.   Ps 23.  Eph 5:8-14.  Jn 9:1-41

Deacon Jim McFadden

         As we read today’s Gospel from John (9:1-41), it will be helpful to remember John’s audience and his purpose. John is writing at the end of the first century to people who were waiting for the return of the Risen Christ.  His purpose in writing his Gospel is to help them see, that is, realize that the Risen Christ is already present to them in the Church and the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist.  What is true then is true now; Jesus is present because He is risen! He is alive!  In order to experience this Resurrection reality, we need to move beyond appearances and to go deeper; to “look into the heart,” into the essence of things.  For that to happen, we must have an encounter with Jesus.  Indeed, if we are going to be witnesses to the Gospel, if we are going to see reality as God sees it, that can only be possible if we have encountered our Lord and are engaged with Him in an ‘I-Thou’ relationship.  Those who truly know Him and are following in love with Jesus, become his witnesses and are highly motivated and energized to share the Good News.  But, the encounter has to come first.

            The Blind Man in today’s Gospel is a lot like the Samaritan woman, as we read last Sunday.  The Triple Outsider encountered Jesus, spoke with Him, and her life radically changed; she returned to her people and said, “Come, see a man who told all that I ever did.  Can this be the Christ?” (4:29).

            A witness to the Gospel is one who has encountered Jesus Christ, who knows Him, or better is known by Him, personally recognized, respected, cherished, loved, and forgiven. When we encounter Jesus in this way, how cannot we be deeply touched, filled with new joy, given life a new and deeper meaning?  And this shines through; people can tell and what we have received, we share with others.  That is what evangelization is about.

            Both the Samaritan woman and the Blind Man are clear examples of the type of person that Jesus loved to encounter, to make witnesses of: persons who are marginalized, excluded, scorned.  Does this sound familiar?  In today’s Gospel the Blind Person was especially scorned because at that time a disability was seen as a consequence of previous bad behavior of the person or his family.  In other words, he was not only blind, but he deserved to be so.  Jesus radically heals the man at two levels: he cures his physical blindness and he forgives the man’s sins.  People of God, Jesus forgives our sins and He yearns to bring healing to our parched soul.  Once we accept his healing, he invites us into a new community based on faith and fraternal love.  We are, indeed, brothers and sisters to one another in Christ Jesus.

            Well, this does not sit well with the religious establishment.  Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, they judged Him to be a sinner along with the Blind Man.  What we have is two opposing cultures.  In the story of the Samaritan Woman and the Blind Man, we have the culture of encounter and we have the culture of exclusion.  The latter is characterized by prejudice because it does see people in their inherent dignity but sees them through the blinders of biases.  So, they criticize and exclude.  In our contentious and polarized society, we have seen this kind of marginalization on full display.  At the same time, precisely because of our vulnerability, fragility, and limitations, we can become witnesses to the encounter with Jesus, which opens us to a deeper life and faith, and therefore empowers us to be genuinely present to others because we now “move, live, and have your being” in the Risen Christ (cf. Acts 17:28). 

            Our holy Father, Pope Francis likes to describe the Church as a field hospital of wounded, broken people who are in need of Divine Mercy.  That’s why our Lord Jesus needs us to enthusiastically give witness that he is Immanuel, God-among-us!  Indeed, only those who recognize their own fragility, their own limitations, their radical dependence upon God’s mercy and grace, can build fraternal and solid relationships in the Church and society. How are we going to respond?  Amen.