March 22 - One Bread, One Body
March 22, Fourth Sunday of Lent
Cycle A Readings:
1) 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13
Psalm 23:1-6
2) Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Blind man's bluff
''Some of the Pharisees around Him picked up, saying, 'You are not calling us blind, are you?' '' —Johns 9:40
Jesus told the Pharisees they were blind. He called them blind guides and blind fools (Mt 23:16, 17, 24, 26). He called the apostles blind when He exclaimed: "Are your minds completely blinded? Have you eyes but no sight?" (Mk 8:17-18) Jesus called the whole church of Laodicea blind (Rv 3:17).
Jesus may be calling us spiritually blind right now. How will we take Jesus' diagnosis of our condition? Will we become defensive, or will we thank Jesus for telling us the truth? The Pharisees got angry at Jesus for calling them blind. They blinded themselves (see Is 29:9) to being blind. They resented the man cured of blindness and threw him out of the synagogue (Jn 9:34). They even tried to impose blindness on everyone else. The Pharisees became so blind that they became darkness (see Eph 5:8). As darkness, they hated the light (Jn 3:20). They hated Jesus, "the Light of the world" (Jn 9:5), and demanded He be crucified.
Spiritual blindness is degenerative. It turns into darkness and violence. We must admit our spiritual blindness (2 Cor 4:4) and ask Jesus to heal us. Otherwise, we will hurt and even crucify our Healer (see Heb 6:6) and those whom He has healed of spiritual blindness. Let Jesus heal you from being blind to your spiritual blindness.
Prayer: Father, today on this Lenten Sunday, scrutinize my heart and free me from blindness before it becomes worse.
Promise: "Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart." —1 Sm 16:7
Praise: "Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may also be revealed" (2 Cor 4:10). Praise You, Jesus!
Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Imprimatur ("Permission to Publish") for One Bread, One Body covering the period from February 1, 2020 through March 31, 2020.
†Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 8, 2019.
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.