Most people tend to think that the alternative to sin is to do good, but this is not the case because you could be doing good for the wrong reasons. You can see and hear me give this Homily on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir822zewPUw
This was one of the problems with the Pharisees whom we meet again in our Gospel today. (John 9:1-41) They did many good things and were convinced that they knew who was good and who was a sinner and they prided themselves on being good and at keeping sinners at a distance, as if they could catch some disease called sin from them. I am sure you can identify two sins in their attitude. First of all, they were proud, they thought far too highly of themselves; and secondly, they were cruel to people like this man who was born blind. If you are a religious person like me, you might well find yourself more like the Pharisees that you would care to admit. When I make my Confession, I am endlessly having to accuse myself of being arrogant, of thinking too highly of myself as a preacher and as a caring priest. I don’t mean to be like that of course, but when I examine myself honestly, I have to admit that pride is lingering within me however hard I try to be modest. I can also be highly critical of other priests who don’t live up to my high standards, and thus quite easily I am just like those Pharisees; and that’s one good reason why I’ll be making my Confession soon, because I need a constant reminder of my failings.
The second reason for making one’s Confession is that as we consider our failings, our weaknesses, we become more aware of our need for God’s strength and mercy. It is not our failings that cut us off from God, but our failure to admit them; so in a strange way it is admitting our failings that brings us closer to God than all the good things we might do, or the prayers we might say, in our attempt to be a good Christian. I was struck in our 2nd Reading (Eph 5:8-14) that we are not told to be light FOR the Lord, but “Light IN the Lord.” This means that if we do good in order to please God, we are standing outside God treating him as a power that we must try to appease by our list of good works and good prayers. But we are Christians not pagans, and this means that we are called to be IN God, not outside him, and we are called to do all things, to be light to the world, within that close personal relationship with God, so that it is not our light than shines out but the glory of God. This need for us to see ourselves “in God” like this is expressed by Jesus in his famous passage about the Vine in John 15. Jesus says “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me….. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Our Gospel then, far from being a story of a blind man being given his sight – although it is that of course – is really about that fact that it is those who think they can see who are blind. Jesus actually says this very explicitly to the Pharisees doesn’t he? ‘Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’ This is very comforting to many people who at various times in their lives feel they are walking in the darkness far from God. Most of the time we walk through life as if we were in a city street with endless bright lights around us. There is so much light, so much to enjoy and attract us, that we fail to notice God’s light, just as we cannot see many stars. No, we see the stars, we see God’s light much more clearly when we are in the dark. This is surely why much to the surprise of those of us who live in relative comfort, it is those who are struggling in poverty or pain who often have a much stronger faith than we do, simply because they know their need of God.
This is why the blind man is so clear about what has happened to him. He can see clearly, and so he can tell the Pharisees off in no uncertain terms for their lack of faith. They are convinced that they are in the light and he is in the dark, but because he has lived in the dark all of his life, when he is given light by Jesus, he sees much more clearly, and simply gives praise to God. Then, when the Pharisees question him, he treats them with a wicked sarcasm, which sadly is rarely read in the way it must have been said originally. “Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from!.... if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.”
So the message is clear I hope, that if we pretend we can see, if we are very devout and go to Mass and say all our prayers and live a good life, we are in danger of thinking we’ve made it. This doesn’t mean of course that we should give up all these things, provided they are a response to God’s mercy and love, rather than an attempt to pile up things we think might please God. He is our heavenly Father. Most children, unless they are very unfortunate, know that their parents love them, so they do good as a response to that love, not in order to achieve that love; and it is that attitude to God that we have to try and adopt however hard that may be. Like children, when we fail we turn to God as a little child runs in tears to his or her loving parent, and without any recriminations, we are given comfort and encouragement to try better next time. St Paul make this point when he writes in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians (12:9) “I will boast… gladly of my weaknesses” and why? “So that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Of course, he doesn’t mean that we should be content with our weaknesses, and give up our attempts to be good Christians, but rather that when we fail, we are able to become more aware of how much God loves and understands us. For, as St Paul then says “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10)
This attitude to every part of our life makes us rejoice like a child over the smallest of things. I was at Holy Hour recently and some Geese nearby began to honk loudly. I might have got distracted, I nearly did, but then I smiled and took the sound into my prayers. The geese were praising God in their way, as I was in mine.
Comments