The first reading is a great lesson on seeing as God sees. Samuel thinks that God’s choice of a new King to succeed Saul is surely not the young and inexperienced David. But God says to Samuel “Do not judge from appearances - - - Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”

In our society today we so often judge by appearance. Often appearance and presentation are everything. We are told to “dress for success”. That may be the way of the world, but it is not God’s way. God is totally disinterested in appearances. His interest is in what resides in the heart. God saw that David had a good heart and chose him as King. As we all know, David was far from perfect. He committed adultery and then planned to have Uriah and others killed to cover up his sin. But God continued to believe in David because David repented of his sin. (Psalm 50 is his Act of Contrition) Commenting on the first reading, Patricia Sanchez writes:

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four and could not read until age seven. His teacher called him “mentally slow and adrift in foolish dreams.” Rodin’s father described his son as an “idiot.” His uncle called the sculptor uneducable and Rodin failed three times to gain admittance to art school. Beethoven’s teacher called him “hopeless” as a composer. Winston Churchill, who became Prime Minister of England at 62, failed sixth grade. After a lifetime of defeats and setbacks, he began to achieve some success only as a senior citizen. Rudyard Kipling’s work was rejected by the San Francisco Examiner newspaper with the comment, “You just don’t know how to use the English language.” When George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess was first performed, a reviewer called it “sure-fire rubbish.” Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book was rejected by 27 publishers. This list, of so-called “losers” who surprised their detractors with their stunning successes could go on and on.

Reflection Questions

Do we tend to judge people by appearances? Do we have a hard time accepting that God can use people who commit terrible crimes? How easy or hard would it be for us to listen to someone who was in jail for years for some crime? Remember President Nixon’s counsel, Chuck Colson, often called Nixon’s “Hatchet Man”, Christ touched his heart and he became an Evangelist especially for all who were and are in jail.

Second Reading: Live as Children of the Light

In the second reading, often seen as a homily to the newly baptized, Paul exhorts his hearers to put aside “fruitless works of darkness” and to live as children of the light. As Catholics, the Sacrament of Reconciliation gives us the opportunity to name and face and be forgiven for our deeds of darkness and to begin to walk again as children of the light.

The Gospel: A Movement from Darkness to Light

This powerful gospel opens with the disciples asking Jesus: “Who sinned, the blind man or his parents?” Jesus answers “Neither”, thus rejecting a strong traditional belief that is if bad fortune comes your way, it must be because you had sinned. That belief lingers on today. All too often, people ask “What have I done wrong to deserve this tragedy.” The answer is nothing. In this world of darkness and light, bad things happen to good people. In God’s plan, he wants to use bad things like blindness to show forth the glory of God. We see this happening in today’s gospel.

Jesus anoints the man and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloan. He is healed. The anointing and washing are two big baptismal symbols. Baptism washes away the darkness of sin and fills us with the light of faith. At baptism we are anointed for service, just as David was anointed in today’s first reading.

After the healing, we notice two movements, one into the light and the other into darkness. Gradually, the formerly blind man moves into the light of faith. Initially, he simply calls Jesus “that man”. Then he calls him a “prophet”. Finally, like the woman at Jacob’s Well, he sees that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. If the man had not been born blind, he may never have met Jesus or received the gift of faith, which gave him spiritual vision for the rest of his life. In this story, the blind man symbolizes all who gradually come to faith overcoming obstacles along the way. He also symbolizes all who experience ostracization because of their belief in Christ.

The second movement in the story is the movement into the darkness of unbelief. We see this sad story happening in the Pharisees who should, because of their background, have recognized Jesus. Instead, they harden their hearts against him and call him a “Sinner”. The Pharisees represent all who think they have faith just because they have a “head knowledge” of their religion.

Application to Our Lives

Who are we in this story? We may be a mixture of all the characters in the story. Like the man born blind, we too were born spiritually blind and ignorant of God. Gradually, with the help of God and others, we received the light of faith.

Like the disciples, we too may believe that bad things are happening to us because we are sinners. Like the blind man’s parents, we too may distance ourselves from a family member or friend who has a conversion experience. They now may make us feel uncomfortable.

Like the Pharisees we may be “know-it-alls”’, coming to church on Sundays, but with closed hearts. We may have closed our hearts to a particular priest or deacon because we don’t like him or we don’t like the color of his skin. Jesus said to the Pharisees “It is because you say you see, that it is why I call you blind.” Wow! There is a line worth pondering. If we think we see, we can be sure we are blind and hard-hearted. If we gladly admit our spiritual blindness, we will, most likely, be blessed with spiritual sight.

Finally, it is said that some of us “prefer the evil (or darkness) we know to the good we do not know.” For example, we refuse to see that we are in denial about some problem in our personal lives or in our home. It could be the drug problem of a son or daughter or the drinking or an abuse problem of a spouse. We are in denial about a marital problem or about some grief issue or addiction. We prefer to stay in the darkness rather than face the pain involved in moving into the light. Christ’s desire is to massage our eyes open, take us by the hand and lead us into the truth and freedom of his light.