{"id":946,"date":"2017-03-26T10:40:42","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T15:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=946"},"modified":"2017-04-20T10:46:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T15:46:54","slug":"making-the-works-of-the-lord-manifest-through-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=946","title":{"rendered":"Making the Works of the Lord Manifest Through You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday in Lent<\/span><\/h3>\n

1 Sam 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5: 8-14; Jn <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>9: 1-41<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dc. Larry Brockman<\/span><\/h3>\n

Blind from birth!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In Biblical times that kind of defect was considered the consequence of the sins of the parents.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But we hear very clearly from Jesus\u2019 own lips that this blind man\u2019s blindness was not a consequence of their sin; but rather: \u201cIt is so the works of God may be made visible through him\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Just how?<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, have you considered that in a way, all of us are \u201cblind at birth\u201d?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The great St. Augustine made this observation, and I quote:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cFor the blind man here is the human race. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Blindness came upon the first man by reason of sin: and from him we all derive it. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>That is, man is blind from his birth\u201d \u2013 end quote.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, we are all blind to God\u2019s message not by virtue of our sins or our parent\u2019s sin, but because of Original Sin- the sin of Adam.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We are born into the world prone to sin, and we are of the world unless we make a conscious decision to seek God; unless we make a decision to be enlightened about things that are not of this world.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, St. Paul speaks about that enlightenment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We were once darkness, he says. That is the darkness that comes from being children of the world.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Children of the world seek the things of the world- it\u2019s comforts, it\u2019s pleasures, and it\u2019s works, in the hope that it will bring happiness and satisfaction.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The problem is that at some point in our lives we realize that things of this world really can\u2019t bring happiness.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

All of us are prone to limitations- whether they are from our minds or our bodies or our environment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And eventually these limitations take over.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In other words, we lose our loved ones, or we lose our agility, or we lose our minds or both; and eventually we die.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And if all there is to life is life in this world; then life to the fullest in this world will all have been in vain.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But if we live in the Lord, it is then we are living in the light of the Lord.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Paul goes on to tell us that we should live as children of the light \u201cWhich produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now Jesus also says this directly in the Gospel:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So, Jesus is telling us that while we live, our mission is to do the works that the Father desires for us.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We have to do that while we live, because after we die we will not have an opportunity to choose him- we will have already made that choice in our lifetimes.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

It is only after Jesus gave that advice that he heals the blind man.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus heals the blind man, a symbol of all humanity, as a sign of the path to salvation that He the Christ will provide.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Notice that he mixes his spittle with the dust of the earth, forming a kind of clay; just as the origin of life emanated from clay in the creation story.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But it is clay that uses Jesus spittle, symbolizing the effect of God\u2019s creating Word coming from his mouth mixed with the dust of the earth.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And so, this blind man goes to the waters of the pool of Siloam, which means \u201csent\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This prefigures Baptism, for the blind man emerges from that pool in a new life.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He is able to see, he is able to understand, <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and he is sent forth to do his mission.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And this is the process each of us experiences- Baptism, a new life in Christ, and a mission selected by God for us.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The blind man\u2019s mission, of course, is to be a witness for Christ in front of the Jewish Establishment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This he does fearlessly, only to be rejected by them, thrown out of the temple.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus invites him to follow him as the Christ, which he does.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, let all of us reflect on our salvation process.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>For we were all called, as was the blind man, to go and be Baptized, and then sent from Baptism to be witnesses for Christ by doing his will for us.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Lent is our opportunity each year to reflect on our mission.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Have we responded \u201cyes\u201d to our Baptismal rebirth in the Church?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Have we rejected the things of darkness, which are solely of this world and embraced our mission to shine the light of Christ in the world around us?<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Because the blind man represents all of us our positive response to the Lord at Baptism and in our lives is the way the works of the Lord will be made manifest to all.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We who believe and follow are the body of Christ, and we will be the light of the world till the end of time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday in Lent 1 Sam 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5: 8-14; Jn \u00a09: 1-41 Dc. Larry Brockman Blind from birth!\u00a0 In Biblical times that kind of defect was considered the consequence of the sins of the parents.\u00a0 But we hear very clearly from Jesus\u2019 own lips that this blind man\u2019s blindness was not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,6],"tags":[467],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":947,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions\/947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}