SEEING FOR THE FIRST TIME.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. YEAR A.
March 2, 2008.
(First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a)
(Second reading: Ephesians 5:8-14)
(Gospel reading: John 9:1-41)


SEEING FOR THE
FIRST TIME.

There is a person in the gospel who is able to see for the first time.

What would you like to see if you were to see for the first time? Personally, I would like to see what makes us human.

Saint Paul in the letter to the Ephesians tells us that we "are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:8-9). Thus, Saint Paul is telling us what makes us human, namely:

We are good by nature (as opposed to being evil by nature) for we have the capacity to produce every kind of goodness. No one who is evil can produce good fruits. Human Goodness is the production of good fruits for the benefit of all humanity.

We are righteous for we have the capacity to bring about justice to our lives, to our relations with one another. Human justice is placing the interest of our fellow human beings before our own interest by inner motivation (as opposed to "by imposition").

We are truthful for we have the capacity to live in accordance with what we are (as opposed as to live in accordance to what we are not). Human truth is the correspondence between who we are and how we live; that is, we live in truth whenever we relate to one another as children of God that we are.

Now, does the world sees what makes us human?
Evidently it does NOT. Our world closes its eyes to what makes us human, to our goodness, righteousness and truth(1).

The world chooses to remain in darkness.
1. The world only wants to see the appearances, not to look "into the heart".
The First Book of Samuel tells us: "Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart" (1Kings 16:7). The world is satisfied to see the "appearances" of its own making. For instance the world sees as "justice" what is only a mockery of justice; the world sees as "order" what in fact is chaos; the world sees as "life" what in actuality is death.

2. The world punishes those who "see" what we, human beings, truly are.
It punishes those who see and want to live in accordance with our goodness, righteousness and truth.

The gospel reading says: "The Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue" (John 9:22).

3. The world wants to reduce human beings to a permanent state of sin, injustice and oppression.
The gospel reading says that the authorities silenced the man (who had recovered his sight) by telling him: "You were born totally in sin" (John 9:34). In the eyes of the powerful who control the world, the one who suffers oppression should always remain under oppression, as if oppression were the "normal" state of human life.

Jesus cures our blindness, gives light to our eyes.
The Lord wants to cure our blindness so that we may see who we truly are - Children of God, fill with goodness, righteousness and truthfulness.

The gospel tells us : "As Jesus passed by He saw a man blind from birth" (John 9:1) and cured him. Then after the man was thrown out from the synagogue, Jesus "found him" (John 9:35) and allowed him to see the Son of Man.

Today, let Jesus make us see our true human nature: our goodness, righteousness and truth.
_________________________________________________________
Footnote.
(1) Whenever we do not live in accordance with what makes us human, that is, whenever we fail to live in accordance with our goodness, righteousness and truth, then we become less than human or, for lack of a better word, subhuman. Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians says that in that case we are "darkness".