Father Rick Bolte's Homily

A: Fourth Sunday in Lent

Today’s gospel is long but it tells a great story.  The man born blind not only regains his physical sight, but gradually gains the sight to recognize who Jesus is and what he is about.  This is in contrast with the Pharisees.  They not only have physical sight, but they suppose they see clearly what faith is all about.  It’s presumed that the man born blind is in sin because of his illness while the Pharisees, as leaders in faith, are thought to be holy.  Jesus gives us the moral at the end when he says “but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”  The Pharisees are in sin because they think they see when they really are refusing to see.

That at first seems rather odd to us that someone would refuse to see.  But what Jesus is about is hard for the Pharisees to see.  Jesus is a Rabbi and teacher in the eyes of the people but he has not gone through the process like the other Rabbis.  He doesn’t follow the rules, he spends time with those whom good people should avoid, and yet he has a following greater than their own.  They don’t see the good Jesus does because to accept him would require a major change in their life.

We too can be blind for the same type of reason.  Some things we know we need to change in our lives but we don’t know how.  We’ve perhaps tried a number of times, asked God to help us, and the problem persists.  We on some level know that our anger, gossiping, pornography, drinking, drug use, gambling, buying sprees, etc is a problem; we run from the reality that we just can’t fix it.  We hide the humiliation of being powerless over our own life; it’s easier to say tat it’s not really a problem.

In our marriages and family relations we also can be blind.  Too often there is a problem that separates us from the one we love but we fear if we broach the subject, things could get difficult (like serious marriage problems.)  We ignore the reality in hopes that it will just go away.  We know it gets worse but our fear grows about trying to deal with it.  Sometimes we end up living a pretend marriage or a marriage that fails long before a formal divorce.  It seems easier to pretend there is no problem.  Even in our work place and among our friends there are problems that divide us and hurt us as a group or workforce.  We may fear for our employment or ability to get along with coworkers or friends, but again the situation tends to get worse if ignored.  But at any given moment, being blind to the reality seems easier.

Note that the blind man doesn’t come to see all at once.  It takes time and reflection on what he sees.  We too need to humbly stand before what we see and bring it to God.  We don’t have to have the answer.  One of the first steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit we are powerless before the problem and trust in a higher power.  This is what the blind man does but pride prevents the Pharisees from doing; to humbly face life without the answers but trusting God to lead you though.  To be so humble is to see clearly as we don’t have all the answers we need.  This is what it means to, “Let go and let God.”  Let us ask God that we may be cured of our blindness and pride and to find that humility to face life relying on God’s power.