The 1st Reading feels out of place because it details the anointing of David unless one reads it through the lens of the Responsorial Psalms. God is the shepherd who has never left His flock untended. He has come and so the focus of the 2nd Reading and the Gospel is on Christ as the light to enlighten our minds.
Firstly, there is the idea of coming into the light or walking from darkness into the light. The movement is gradual which reveals a process which we do not always appreciate. Conversion is gradual and sometimes slow and painful.When we talk of saints, we frequently think of them as finished “products”. Truth is many of them struggle all through their lives. Many have been canonised saints only because they had persevered through the course of conversion.
Secondly, the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees will shed light on the future of Jesus’ suffering. The prevalent view of the time was a belief heavily influenced by Job’s experience. Misfortunes and illnesses were considered to be the consequences of sin. It is illustrated by the question of whose sins they were that caused the man’s blindness. Jesus did not answer that directly though the conversation does shed light on innocent and redemptive suffering for He Himself was the prime example.
Christ who was sinless bore His rejection and suffering as an expiation for our sins. It is true that we do have to pay the price of our sins. The saying that “karma is a ‘female dog’” reflects this understanding. And yet, we are taught by the Lord’s own personal situation that sickness and suffering are not necessarily the consequence of sin. The fact that you suffer is not because God is punishing you. However, what has happened is that we have flipped the script around. Instead of suffering on account of sins, now the prevailing philosophy is to excuse sin because we are sick or suffering.
Today a disease is considered to be an excuse that mitigates a person’s responsibility or culpability. Insanity plea and compos mentis are related to claiming a lack of responsibility because a person has no control over rational thought. Our homegrown example is found in the title of a documentary called “Kleptocrats”. Kleptomania is the irresistible urge to steal. Hence, one steals because one suffers from kleptomania which in a way makes the stealing less sinful as it were. There has to be a balance in which one assumes responsibility for one’s actions. It leads us to the next point.
Thirdly, the Gospel whilst it details the gradual enlightenment of the man born blind, it also uncovers an uncomfortable truth about us. Those who can see can be blind. It is perhaps an invitation for us to be less arrogant and to be morehumble. While we should be confident about what we know, we should also be open to our blind spots. Socrates himself supposedly said, “I know that I know nothing”. If we desire to be humble, then the people who mirrors us best are not those who praise or speak well of us. Rather, those who criticise might in fact help us see ourselves for who we truly are. In the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, it took a child, a naïve one, to expose the truth of how group-think can blind us to what we truly need to see. We need light to perceive the unvarnished truth about ourselves.
Sometimes we do not have the courage to see ourselves or we might try to run away from what is true. Our addictions could be symptoms of our escape. We run away from facing reality by numbing ourselves either through excessive working, over-eating, substance abuse, binge-watching or engaging in repetitive behaviours that distract us. Solitaire, Dota, SIM City or Plants vs Zombies are some examples.
Finally, the healing process involved highlighting an important element of Catholic or Orthodox Christianity. It is the incarnational underpinnings of our Sacramental system. Christ uses matter to effect a healing. He spat onto the earth to make paste to apply onto the man’s eyes.
In fact, water was last week’s sacramental matter. This week earth is used to mediate healing and restoration. All these materials are tangible and sensible and they reveal to us the underlying principle that is at work in our Sacramental system. God uses matter to effect His grace, thus revealing to us that our world, even though fallen, is still a good one.
Combined with specific words, which are the formulae we use, the physical elements such as water and oil, bread and wine, the act of confessing, the laying on of hands and the mutual consent make visible the invisible grace of God. Through them God communicates His grace to us and the Sacramental system actually stands upon the pivotal event of the Incarnation, an act whereby God the Son is the Word made flesh. Later, through His flesh under the appearance of bread and wine, the same flesh that suffered on Calvary and was triumphant at the Resurrection, we are saved.
