Blindfolds

Blindfolds

Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent: John 9. 1-41

When you were young, did you ever play games that required a blindfold? The most common was Pin the Tail on the Donkey. In these days of hyper-safety do we use Velcro instead of pins? Anyway, there was fun in the dark, knowing of course that blindfold would soon come off. But anytime we put blindfolds on there is confusion, distortion, anxiety... darkness.

Sunday's Gospel account of the man born blind, like any of the "signs" in John's Gospel is meant to be a "sign" for us.  It is a story of the early Christian church, and it is our story of the journey of faith and conversion, especially in this Lenten season.

Please take the time now to read and reflect upon this amazing story:

John 9.1-41 

Here are some key points to ponder:

• Unlike most of the healing stories in the Gospels, The man born blind does not come to Jesus and ask to be healed. It is Jesus who goes to him. (9.1-8). To hear the call of the Lord is the first step to conversion
• The blind man is sent to a place called "Sent" (Siloam) and is to "wash in the pool", an obvious reference to Baptism,
• The journey of faith is a process and not instantaneous. The man born blind is asked by his neighbors, "How were your eyes opened?" he responds, "The man called Jesus..."  When he is asked again by the Pharisees, he then says Jesus "is a prophet". Once he is kicked out of the synagogue and encounters Jesus again. Jesus asks him "Do you believe in the Son of Man". The blind man asks "who is he"? When Jesus says " the one with whom you are speaking," the man finally responds, "Lord, I believe." 
• As we have heard, this journey is not without suffering- rejection by neighbors, by parents, by powerful authorities, by the community- at least when he was blind, he wasn't rejected! But in the end, the man has become a new person, with a vision of the Kingdom of God, and life in the Trinity through the Son, Jesus Christ.
• The other characters in the story- the neighbors, the parents and the Pharisees, serve as a warning to us as disciples about "blindfolds"
• The neighbors are blinded by their perception that people cannot change so drastically. How many times have we hurt others through gossip, lies, and slander, because we have a skewed perception of who they are? Does past history and hurt prevent us from moving on? For teachers, do we find ourselves saying " that kid will never change", or "That class has always been like that." Time to remove the blindfold of hopelessness, and see with a vision of hope.
• The parents of the man born blind react in fear of themselves being rejected, and distance themselves from their son, and the Son of God. How much does fear play a role in our unwillingness to be witnesses to the Good News of Jesus? Are we afraid of letting people know who we really are? Time to remove the blindfold of fear and see with a vision of courageous witness.

• The Pharisees just don't get it. They have been blinded by their own need for power- the power to be right, to be in control, to be greater than others. The end of the chapter says it all - "Surely we are not blind are we?" Jesus said to them, "if you were blind, you would not have sin, but now that you say "we see", your sin remains. The fact that they cannot admit to their blindness keeps them in sin. And so we must ask ourselves, how well have we responded to the call of conversion? Have we availed ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Does our pride and ego stand in the way of living a life in Christ"? Time to remove the blindfold of sin and humbly ask for forgiveness and mercy. 

Lent is our time to remove our blindfolds. Ask God to help you restore your vision as a loving disciple.