Fourth Sunday of Lent (A)LOOK CAUSES TO SIN1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41 Goodness in the look of God; sinfulness in the look of man
A Blessed morning to all.
Once upon a time, there was a thief lived in a village. He was very mischievous. He committed all kinds of crimes like steeling, raping, killing, kidnapping etc. The people feared about this man.
On the other hand the thief’s desires and motivations were totally different than the normal human beings. His goal was to become more popular in committing crimes. It became as if his profession and he continued for a long time.
One day, a Sage (guru) came to the village and heard about the thief. Everyone in the village accused and complained about him, labelled him as criminal. Then the guru sent a message to the thief that he wanted to meet him. There came a day where many people gathered around the guru, the thief also came to see the guru.
As soon as the guru saw the thief he got up immediately with lot of respect and fell at the feet of the thief, asking him to pardon him for his sins.
The people got surprised and were confused at the act of the Guru. The thief could not understand anything. He was in wonder and stunned. Slowly he asked, ‘Guruji why did you fall at my feet?’ I am a criminal.
The people saw you as a criminal but I see you as a man of God and a great guru. I am only a guru renouncing the worldly things and possessions in order to attach myself with the creator, God. But you (thief) are a great guru because you have renounced the creator himself. So you are the great guru said the sage. This act and words of the sage brought great transformation in the life of the thief.
Yes dear friends the people looked at the thief as a sinner, murderer, thief, etc but the guru looked at his eyes and saw the face of God. The look of the guru brought tremendous change in the life of the thief. Today let us reflect how we look at the realities of life. This Lenten season invites us to evaluate how we look at persons, things and situations in our lives.
In the first reading, God chooses David as king of Israel and God instructs Samuel to anoint David. Because God chooses what the world considers as weak and fragile, David was like that. Samuel invites Jesse and his sons to purify themselves in order to offer sacrifice. Jesse called all of his sons for the purification except David. Because David was a small boy and he was taking care of the sheep. Jesse sends his sons to Samuel. By seeing the appearance and structure of Eliab (other sons) Samuel thought he is the person chosen by God but God tells Samuel “I have rejected Eliab”.“Do not look at the appearance and height of the stature; Man sees outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. Thus all the sons of Jesse was rejected. Finally Samuel anoints David as a king. Thus, the words of St. Paul are realized here. “God choses what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” 1Cor1:28. David was considered as a weak, small yet God chose David as king of Israel. Thus the look of God is different from the look of Man. Thus the sight of the man leads to sin.
How the sight (vision) of the person leads into sin?
Dear friends, God saw everything good and beautiful in his creation, man turns them into sinful. For example: in the beginning of creation God saw everything good and he was pleased with his creation. But man with his selfish look turned everything into sin. Thus God felt sad for creating man on this earth this grieved his heart’ Gen 6:6. Secondly, God saw Saul as a good person thus He chose him as a first king of Israel. But then, he too went away from the presence of God. So God said, “I repent that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments”1 Sam 15:11. Yes, dear friends in the sight of God everything was good but man out of his sinful attitude and look turned everything into sinfulness.
Thus we read Mathew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness”.
During this season of Lent Jesus invites each one of us, to be in touch with our look. In the gospel reading we find Jesus heals the blind man and giving him the sight.
Who is blind according to you?
We have beautiful eyes yet all of us are born blind like the man in the gospel. We are blind, every time we commit sin again and again with consciousness. In the joyful lips we sing very beautifully that
The world stands in need of liberation my Lord
it still has to feel your power
The world stands in need of liberation my Lord
it still has to learn to love
the dumb and the deaf
the blind and the lame
all need to feel your healing touch
There are those who have eyes who refuse to see
there inhumanity and injustice done to men
there are those who have ears who refuse to hear
the cries of men in agony.
There are those who have mouths who refuse to speak
against injustice done to men.
There are those who have hands who refuse
to reach them out in love and brotherhood
There are those who have talents..they do
not use to build a true community.
and we all know that we have the
talent to love but keep it buried in ourselves
Today when we look at our world most of us are born blind. Jesus invites us to be healed from our inner blindness. let us look at the persons and see the face of God, look at the creation and wonder the marvellous work of God and look at yourself and see the image of God.
Who are all instruments of God?
All the sinners are called as instruments of God. Because in today’s gospel Jesus tell us that the man was born blind not because of his sins or the sins of his parents but he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed through him. Jesus also says “I came to call sinners”. His heart was always at the side of the poor, the lonely, weak and sinners. So, God wants you and me to be his instruments.
Who is the light of the world?
We all know that Jesus is the light of the world. In the gospel also Jesus tells us clearly that “you are the light of the world”. Also he says our eyes are the lamp of the body. So let us clean our sight in order to become the light of the world.
To become the light of the world what must we do?
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01. Let us see the goodness in all the creation of God.
02. Let us avoid lustful sight and thoughts.
03. Turn our eyes from self-centeredness to other- centeredness
04. Focus your vision in the works of God.
05. See the presence of God in everything and handle them with love and care.
During this Lenten season let us retrospect ourselves and remove the log from our own eyes before judging others. Which makes us blind and fail to recognize the beauty of God thus we may become the light of the world which the Lord expects.
Goodness in the look of God; sinfulness in the look of man
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