Joy. Gratitude. Service.
March 26, 2017

D ear  Friends ,

Today’s message includes the reminder that faith in Jesus comes to us neither quickly nor in an instant. Instead, it requires prayerful patience. 

I too appreciate a thoughtful reflection on the Sunday readings. See the link below to an article for another take on the readings.

As always, feel free to forward today's homily to others who might appreciate today's message.

Gratefully,
Fr. Dave Mercer, Pastor
4th Sunday of Lent
Homily: We Choose Light
Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. [Ephesians 5:8-9]
           
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Most Americans know the story of Helen Keller. In 1880, Helen is born blind and deaf. Her parents deeply love her. And yet, without proper help, they can only watch as she stumbles her way through a dark and mysterious world. Young Helen’s life is miserable, because she hasn’t a clue of what her dark world is about.
 
Her parents hire Anne Sullivan to be her teacher. Anne lives with the Keller family and sets about focusing Helen’s attention until she realizes that someone is trying to communicate with her. That moment comes in the famous water pump scene in the movie, “The Miracle Worker,” when Helen realizes that certain hand shapes mean W - A - T - E - R … water. Of course, Anne Sullivan isn’t a miracle worker, but one who helps Helen to understand what had been a dark, silent, mysterious world. Although Helen is physically blind, a light enters her world of darkness.

In today’s proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus is not so much a miracle worker as he is a grace-worker, a faith-worker. In John’s Gospel, sight is best understood as a type of metaphor. Darkness and light, night and day, blindness and sight are held in contrast. Darkness, night, and blindness stand in for unbelief. Light, daytime, and sight stand in for belief. In other words, seeing is believing.

In today’s Gospel proclamation, a man born blind stumbles his way through a dark and mysterious world. Jesus anoints his eyes and sends him to the Pool of Siloam, where he washes his eyes with the waters of faith. A light now replaces his world of darkness, and that light is Jesus the Christ.

And yet, when he washes his eyes in the waters of faith, he still needs time to grow into a greater understanding of Jesus. At first, he merely refers to “the man called Jesus.” Then, when challenged, he refers to Jesus as “a prophet” and then as “Son of Man,” meaning Messiah. Only later does he refer to Jesus with the divine reference of “Lord.” Jesus as a man, prophet, Messiah, and the divine Lord — the man born blind not only learns to “see,” but gains a vision. He chooses to follow Jesus.

Teenagers, I ask you to keep this in mind. What’s important is not that he comes to have all five senses. Rather, he develops the all-important sixth sense of faith. Jesus, the faith-worker, makes it possible for the man to see with the light of faith. When we choose Christ, Jesus does the same for us: he makes it possible for us to truly see with the light of faith.

Jesus calls you (Jesus calls all of us) to move from darkness into the light of faith. However, we run into a problem when we expect it to happen quickly. We’re accustomed to life coming to us at a fast pace. Think of the words we use: fast lane, fast-forward, and fast food. We also have instant pudding, instant coffee, and instant replay. When we want information, we can open our smartphone and find what we want in an instant.

Teenagers, again, here’s what this can mean for you. As with the man born blind, growing in faith can take time. Once the man born blind can see with the light of faith, he still needs time for that faith to shape his vision of life and of Jesus. Fast or instant answers are not necessarily a part of the life of faith, but prayerful patience is.

Helen Keller puts it this way: “The saddest thing in the world is people who can see but have no vision.” The light of Christ provides us with the needed vision so we need not walk in the dark.

Lent is about preparing for Easter. At the Easter Vigil, we begin outside, after sundown, in the darkness of the night. From a glowing fire, we light the Easter candle, from which we light our individual candles. The Risen Jesus is our light, breaking the darkness of the night, breaking the darkness of our lives.

If you are baptized, then you are a child of the light. With that light, you’re called to possess the same vision as Jesus. Whenever wherever it is dark, we choose light.

We choose Jesus Christ.

For another take  on today's readings passage, click here.

The Light is On
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