March 11, 2018: Fourth Sunday in Lent

Celebrating the Second Scrutiny
Readings: John: 9: 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

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.

Reflection:

Don’t you wonder how the cured blind man endured the hard time his neighbors and the Pharisees gave him, their incessant and repeated questions after he had told them how he was cured, their accusations of being a sinner and finally being thrown out of the house! And yet, after all that, when Jesus finds him again, the man utters these words, “I do believe, Lord,” and worships him.

Action:

Remember the patience and endurance of the cured blind man when you get bent out of shape by life and the little annoyances and inconveniences and demands of others that make up our days. Utter your own “I believe, Lord,” and ask the grace of acceptance.