Fourth Sunday of Lent
Gospel – John 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him,
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is, “
but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath.”
But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again,
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”

They answered and said to him,
“You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?”
Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered and said,
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus said to him,
“You have seen him, and
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.

Reflection on Sunday Gospel

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God…

Two things are remarkable about this passage from John’s Gospel. First is the example of Jesus’ ability to work miracles with ordinary objects, and the second is the strict interpretation of the Law by the Pharisees. In our lives we have all needed to be healed by God in one way or another. Whether it is for a medical illness or simply needing a cure for forgetting to study for a test, we’ve all reached out to God for a miracle.

Jesus using clay and saliva to heal the blind man shows us that He is not limited in what he can work with and what He can do. The lesson learned from the Pharisees is how they attempt to place limits on God’s ability to heal. “Technically,” Jesus is not allowed to do “work” on the Sabbath, so he has committed a sin. Again, God’s ability to heal us is without limits and His time table is beyond our understanding.

Take a moment to pause and reflect on how you place limits on God. Do you truly believe that God can help or even heal you with something as simple as clay from the earth? What about a friend or a family member?

Finally, close your eyes and imagine Jesus’ healing hands raised to your face . . . when you open your eyes what do you see differently?

St. John Baptist de La Salle … Pray for Us!
Live Jesus in our Hearts … Forever!

Mr. Joe Cordella
Calvert Hall College – Vice Principal of Student Affairs