March 30, 2014: Fourth Sunday of Lent

This diorama shows when Saint Mother Theodore and her Mission Band arrived at the dense woods of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, October 22, 1840. Saint Mother Theodore is a great example of a person who spoke her own truth.

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him,
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —.

So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath.”
But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again,
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”

They answered and said to him,
“You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?”
Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered and said,
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus said to him,
“You have seen him, and
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. (John 9: 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38)

Reflection

When questioned, the blind man who was cured by Jesus stuck to his story, even though he was thrown out by the religious leaders. Notice how Jesus seeks him out again. The blind man ends up with the gift of faith.

Action

This week, speak your own truth; believe in yourself and your “story.” Ask Jesus to increase your faith, to help you to see, and to take away fear from your heart.