4th Sunday of Lent year A

                                                                                       4th Sunday of lent year A

Four processes towards healing and believing in Christ today.

On this 4th Sunday of lent year, A, the Sunday liturgical readings invite us to reflect on the encounter of Jesus with the man born blind. Last Sunday, we had the encounter of Jesus with a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. On this 4th Sunday of lent 2023, when we meditate on the gospel passage taken from John 9:1-41, we can establish Four processes or stages that the blind man underwent before receiving healing and eventually believing in Christ. Finally, in this Homily, We shall look at those who remained indifferent to Christ as a sign of spiritual blindness.

From the first reading to the gospel of this 4th Sunday of lent year A, we can identify Four processes in which one passes through to overcome physical and spiritual blindness, experience healing and eventually believe in Christ. The four processes are:

1. Encounter 2. Healing 3. Verification and finally 4. Believing.

Let us now see how encountering process takes place in this Sunday readings.

1. Encounter. There are various encounters in the Sunday readings today. For example, in the First reading, we find Samuel who encountered God, who sent him to encounter the sons of Jesse to anoint one of them as a king. Indeed, Samuel, had an encounter with the sons of Jesse even though Samuel was looking at the physical appearances, but God was looking at both the physical and spiritual appearances. Eventually, when David was called from the field, he was anointed by Samuel as the king of Israel that God had chosen. In fact, one can say that at first instance, Samuel showed signs of spiritual blindness, but he was physically seeing because when he entered the house of Jesse, he thought of a chosen king as one of the first sons of Jesse that were at home, little did he know that it was David who was in the field taking care of the sheep.

The second encounter is seen in the gospel passage which is between Jesus and the blind man. How did this unnamed blind man get noticed by Jesus? The text tells us that Jesus saw him then the disciples asked who is responsible for his eyesight blindness. In this situation, the attitude of the disciples makes us think of our own attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions today. Don’t we have the same mentality or perception whenever we come across a beggar or a lame person or a blind man on the street? Instead of helping, we accuse the person or the family to have abandoned them on the street. However, Jesus took another advocate standpoint by accepting and seeking solution for this blind man. We are told, he took some mud, mixed it with his saliva and smeared it on the eyes of the blind man and ordered him to go and wash himself in the pool of Siloam meaning sent. The blind man’s encounter with Jesus brings 1. Mud smeared on his blind eyes 2. An order to wash in the pool of Siloam 3. Sight recovery finally, 3. The consequences of his healing to the society. Let us now look at the second stage that the blind man passed through:

2. Healing. Healing is one of the consequences that the blind man had after his abrupt encounter with Christ. After washing in the pool of Siloam, he recovered his physical eyesight, he openly discussed about Jesus, and he was faced with challenges such as being thrown out of the synagogue simply because he was healed by Jesus. Does our encounter with Jesus bring healing into our lives, into families and into our societies? Healing can range from physical to emotional and spiritual healing. when how and when can you say that you encountered Christ in your life?

3. Verification. This entails the blindman healed being questioned by the Jewish authorities who remained indifferent to Jesus. In fact, they were physically seeing but spiritually blind to see and understand that Jesus is the Messiah. I admire the courage and the determination for this blind man healed because he was able to stand on his ground by consistently attributing his healing to Jesus. How many times do we attribute healing to the Doctors who treated and yet it is God who heals us? Remember the doctors treat, but God heals. In addition to that, when one is healed by a certain saint in the church, we try to engage the doctors to verify if at all the healing has taken place to the person for the reason of not to doubt but to have a firm, clear and absolute truth about the healing of God. Finally,

4. Re-encountering and believing in Christ. When the healed blind man was thrown out of the synagogue, he meets Jesus who healed him hence he believed in him more and more. Sometimes when you rejected here, another opportunity is waiting for you, never give up and is never too late. Who is blind in the passage? It is also those who remained indifferent to Jesus even after encountering him in the synagogue and outside the synagogue, they remained closed, resistant, and repellent to him. Therefore, some jews who were seeing physically but spiritually they were blind whereas the blindman was physically blind but spiritually seeing but when he encountered Jesus, he was able to see both physically and spiritually.

To conclude, on this 4th Sunday of lent year A, let our encounter with Christ produce everlasting fruits in our Christian life. AMEN.

HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY!!!!!