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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
"This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad."
We’ve all heard the expression, "You can’t see the forest for all the trees." And there have been times when we’ve looked right at the thing we were after and didn’t see it!
Today’s gospel account is just such an example for us. The blind man in today's Gospel experiences physical healing. His vision is restored and in addition he receives the gift of faith. Jesus is presenting faith as true sight—seeing things as they really are.
We can easily miss the obvious in the Gospel by focusing on wrong details such as what caused this man’s blindness from birth? Was it his sins or the sins of his parents? Or why would Jesus even think about performing a miracle on the Sabbath? T oo many trees! Jesus wants us to understand that he is the Light of the world and he gives the true vision that is the vision of faith! The man blind from birth saw and believed. The Apostle Thomas saw and believed. Jesus says to us now: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!"
We all know what it is to cross a dark room searching for a light switch. We have all stubbed our toe or banged our shin on a piece of furniture as we groped in the dark searching for the light switch. As eerie as physical darkness is, spiritual darkness causes us even greater uncertainty. Spiritual darkness can cause us to easily loose sight of our heavenly quest for life eternal with our God. Spiritual blindness can prevent us from seeing things as they really are.
Look at it this way: light will not penetrate blacked-out windows. Light only penetrates in proportion to the clearness of the glass through which it is to shine. We are the glass through which Christ's light is to shine, and our attitudes, based on our sense of commitment to our Lord, determine whether our glass is blacked out, smudged or crystal clear.
Perhaps our blindness is that we don’t attempt to see new things or new ways – preferring the safety of sameness.
Perhaps it is a blindness of prejudice – being so sure about other people that we box them in and restrict them.
Perhaps our blindness is from fear – not moving out of our own restrictions – not venturing out because of fear of difference.
Or maybe it is just a blindness that comes from laziness – I’ll open my eyes tomorrow.
Whatever your baggage is at this stage of your life, whatever veil is covering your remorse, today is the day that Jesus lifts them from you: receive the gift of faith from him who is love and believe and be free.
Lent is a time of scrutiny, a time to see others and ourselves through the eyes of God. It is only with God’s help that we can be cured of our own spiritual blindness and see things as they really are. May God’s blessing come upon you now and remain with you forever, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We’ve all heard the expression, "You can’t see the forest for all the trees." And there have been times when we’ve looked right at the thing we were after and didn’t see it!
Today’s gospel account is just such an example for us. The blind man in today's Gospel experiences physical healing. His vision is restored and in addition he receives the gift of faith. Jesus is presenting faith as true sight—seeing things as they really are.
We can easily miss the obvious in the Gospel by focusing on wrong details such as what caused this man’s blindness from birth? Was it his sins or the sins of his parents? Or why would Jesus even think about performing a miracle on the Sabbath? T oo many trees! Jesus wants us to understand that he is the Light of the world and he gives the true vision that is the vision of faith! The man blind from birth saw and believed. The Apostle Thomas saw and believed. Jesus says to us now: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!"
We all know what it is to cross a dark room searching for a light switch. We have all stubbed our toe or banged our shin on a piece of furniture as we groped in the dark searching for the light switch. As eerie as physical darkness is, spiritual darkness causes us even greater uncertainty. Spiritual darkness can cause us to easily loose sight of our heavenly quest for life eternal with our God. Spiritual blindness can prevent us from seeing things as they really are.
Look at it this way: light will not penetrate blacked-out windows. Light only penetrates in proportion to the clearness of the glass through which it is to shine. We are the glass through which Christ's light is to shine, and our attitudes, based on our sense of commitment to our Lord, determine whether our glass is blacked out, smudged or crystal clear.
Perhaps our blindness is that we don’t attempt to see new things or new ways – preferring the safety of sameness.
Perhaps it is a blindness of prejudice – being so sure about other people that we box them in and restrict them.
Perhaps our blindness is from fear – not moving out of our own restrictions – not venturing out because of fear of difference.
Or maybe it is just a blindness that comes from laziness – I’ll open my eyes tomorrow.
Whatever your baggage is at this stage of your life, whatever veil is covering your remorse, today is the day that Jesus lifts them from you: receive the gift of faith from him who is love and believe and be free.
Lent is a time of scrutiny, a time to see others and ourselves through the eyes of God. It is only with God’s help that we can be cured of our own spiritual blindness and see things as they really are. May God’s blessing come upon you now and remain with you forever, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.