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Fourth Sunday of Lent Jn 9:1-41 |
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| Background: In this long reading from John’s gospel, Jesus once again contrasts the unbelief of those who are the official representatives of religion and the eventual belief of one whose blindness was considered by the religious leaders to be a sign of his sinfulness. The gospel writer clearly wishes to show how those who stick to the letter of the law fail to recognize the presence of the divine in unexpected events. Even the blind man’s parents, faithful Jews, are fearful of the religious leaders’ ability to banish them from the temple and will not acknowledge their son’s affliction. |
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Story: Once upon a time, not so very long ago, parishioners at a suburban church noticed a very disheveled woman of indeterminate age sitting in the back of church at Sunday Mass. Every so often she would shout something they did not understand and then settle down. Eventually, the ushers and some of the leaders of the church began to talk about how they might keep this woman from disrupting their service. When the pastor refused to bar her from the church, others began their own campaign of harassment, hoping to drive her away. However, one teenage girl who had begun talking with the woman, learned her story. The woman, a former student in the parish school, had become involved with drugs in college and eventually turned to prostitution. She had finally reached the "pits" and, when she had nowhere else to go, came back to the old neighborhood for church. However, she realized the people did not want her at their services and told the girl she would not return. The teenager went to the pastor, told him the story and asked what she could do to help. The pastor, impressed with the teenager’s concern, helped find a rehabilitation program for the former parishioner. Some years later, when the choir director made a plea for new members, a thirty something woman with a beautiful soprano voice became a favorite of most of the parishioners. Only the pastor and the teenager, now a graduate student, knew that she was the woman people had driven from the church. |
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