Fourth Sunday of Lent
Dear Friends,
“Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.”
Our readings today deal, in different ways, with sight and appearance. In our first reading we see Samuel anoint God’s chosen king from the sons of Jesse. God bypasses Jesse’s seven older sons, despite their “lofty stature,” before anointing David, the youngest and most unassuming.
Later, in the Gospel, we hear the story of Jesus giving sight to the man born blind. When the disciples first see the blind man they judge his condition, sure that his blindness is a punishment for sin. Jesus rejects their assumption, saying, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” When Jesus restores the man’s sight, the Pharisees are indignant: how can Jesus, who they do not approve of or understand, be responsible for such a mighty miracle? They have already decided that he can’t be from God, and a miracle like this challenges and frustrates their hard hearts. The blind man, however, free of pride and lofty prejudice, is able to speak the simple truth: “if this man [Jesus] were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” By the end of the Gospel, it becomes very clear: it is the blind man who possesses true sight, while the Pharisees are blind to God’s work right in front of them.
These little paradoxes and unexpected heroes are present all throughout scripture, and they are a hallmark of how our God operates. He chooses Moses, a disgraced and ineloquent exile, to speak to Pharaoh and free the Hebrews. He delivers victory to the tiny army of Gideon in the book of Judges. He calls a young shepherd boy to be his anointed king and to defeat the mighty Goliath. When God becomes man, he is born in poverty and humility. When he enters his public life, he calls fishermen and sinners to be his followers. When he performs miracles, he is not concerned with outer signs of glory, but with encountering the lost and transforming the heart.
First Corinthians tells us, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong...HE is the source of your life...therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.’”
Lent is a time when we can become acutely aware of our littleness and brokenness. We may look at ourselves, in all of our shortcomings, vices, and attachments, and feel despair that we could ever be truly holy. But it is precisely in our littleness and brokenness where God meets us! Just like the blind man, our weakness allows “the works of God to be made visible through us.” It is in our wounds, our blindness, our poverty, our imperfection, that Our Lord can bring about the most glorious transformation. And when he does, we will know that it is not because of our own strength or worthiness, but because of his lavish graces and his wildly generous love.
Jule Heffernan
Communications Director
