Homily
for March 2, 2008
Liturgical Year A- Cycle II
4th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Anthony Romero Topic:
Rejoice in your suffering
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Gospel:
John 9: 1- 41
As
Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
His
disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he
was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We
have to do
the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when
no one
can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When
he
had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and
smeared
the clay on his eyes, and said to him,
"Go wash in the Pool of Siloam"--which means Sent--. So he
went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and
those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
"Isn't
this the one who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is," but
others said, "No, he just looks like him." He said, "I am."
So they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He replied, "The
man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, 'Go to
Siloam and
wash.' So I went there and washed and was able to see." And they said
to
him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know."
They
brought the one
who was once blind to the
Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a Sabbath. So then the
Pharisees
also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on
my
eyes, and I washed, and now I can see." So some of the Pharisees said,
"This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." But
others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a
division among them. So they said to the blind man again, "What do you
have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a
prophet."
Now the Jews did
not believe that he
had been blind and gained his
sight until
they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They
asked them,
"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?"
His parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son and that
he
was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who
opened his
eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself." His parents
said
this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already
agreed that
if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the
synagogue. For this reason his parents said, "He is of age; question
him."
So a second time
they called the man
who had been blind and said to
him,
"Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner." He replied,
"If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was
blind
and now I see." So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did
he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I told you already and you did
not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his
disciples, too?" They ridiculed him and said, "You are that man's
disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do
not know where this one is from." The man answered and said to them,
"This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet
he
opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one
is
devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that
anyone ever
opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God,
he would
not be able to do anything." They answered and said to him, "You were
born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?" Then they threw
him
out.
When Jesus heard
that they had
thrown him out, he found him and said,
"Do
you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he,
sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen
him, the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe,
Lord," and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, "I came into this world
for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do
see
might become blind."
Some of the
Pharisees who were with
him heard this and said to him,
"Surely we are not also blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If
you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We
see,' so
your sin remains."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today’s Gospel is very important.
I want to always remind you that the word of
our Lord is not just a text on a page.
It should always be alive for us.
There is always something that you and I can take out of all the
readings, not only the Gospels but also the first and second readings,
or the
psalms. They are not just words, its
life. We had heard that last Sunday, right?
When Jesus met who at the well, the Samaritan
woman. That’s very important for us because
that’s the beauty of our faith.
Everything is always connected if we pay attention. This
Samaritan woman for us is a very
important symbol because her community ostracized her, and we know
that,
because of the time of day that she came out to draw water. It
was noon, it was very hot and she was by
herself. Even her own sex, the women of
the town wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her, because they
knew where
she was at or she wouldn’t be going to draw water by herself because
they often
went in groups. She went to where? She went to a well to
draw standing water and
as we know, sometimes standing water can become stagnant and tasteless
but who
was there waiting for her? She was about
to have a “Jesus experience” and we have to follow the line of her
vocabulary. First she calls him “a Jew” and she’s
very indignant
because he addressed her. Then, next, she calls him “a prophet” and we
see
Jesus doing this. He’s reeling her in,
slowly but surely and then at the end she recognizes him as “her Lord”.
She calls him the Messiah and she gets so
excited she forgets all about her container and she starts off to the
town to
tell everybody about this man who knew everything about her and that
this man
is God. She’s the first missionary. She doesn’t care about
her water jug because
he offered her living water, fresh water, everlasting life.
Living water is flowing water. Living water is running water.
You picture a stream, always moving, always
fresh, never stale and it quenches the thirst.
We see that in today’s Gospel also.
This man is born blind. First he calls Jesus “a man”, “the man
Jesus”. Then he calls him “a prophet” and
then at the end he also recognizes him as “the Messiah”. He bows
down and he worships him. As I was thinking about this and what
our
Lord may want me to relay to you this weekend, sometimes it comes
easier than
most, but Friday I was at the Youth’s Group Fish Fry. I got in
for free. Miracle had a ticket for
me--the power of the collar. I went in
and had a wonderful time. I had my fish
and visited and then I excused myself as graceful as I can be. As
I was shuffling across the parking lot,
back to the rectory, I hear this voice, “Hey buddy, let me put my hands
on you
so I can heal you.” “What?” So, I turn around and say,
“God?” God drives a Buick. This man said, “Wait a minute.
Let me park.” He parked and I keep moving because
you should never stop
even in the parking lot of your Catholic Church, just keep going.
So he gets out of his car and he meets me. He says, “Buddy, I
want to heal you. Let me put my hands on you.” “Well, we
all need prayers. We can pray for each other.” He said, “No.
I have the power of healing. I
want to heal you. I’m not Catholic. I’m Pentecostal.”
“Lord, why me?” Somebody’s always trying to heal Father
Anthony. I can never make it across the
parking lot. It’s Lent and I’m trying to
be gracious and patient and say, “Thank you but no. We can pray
for each other.” But he wouldn’t let it go. “I want to put
my hands on you so I can heal
you.” I said to myself, “Well, I don’t
know where your hands have been. I don’t
want you to touch me.” You got to laugh. Lord give me
strength. So, I said, “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. We’ll
pray for each other but I’m not going to
let you touch me.” He gave me that
furrowed brow look, “Well, okay but I don’t have to touch you but I’m
going to
take my cap off and then I’ll wave it over you.” I said, “Okay,
you go first.” We are dumb but we are not so dumb. He gets
ready, “Lord, I ask you to send down
your spirit. Remove the evil from this
man so that he becomes clean and he is healed and made whole.
Take this evil from him.” He started waving
his cap over me and he hit me in the head.
He gets done and now it’s my turn. I’m a little more subdued.
“Lord, please continue to guide your
servant. Fill him with your love and
your peace that he may continually serve you in everything that he does.
In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit.” Then I stuck out my hand and I
made him shake my hand. I thanked him
and begrudgingly he acknowledged me and he went off. I thought to myself, “I wonder if this
guy cruises
parking lots looking for people like me to heal.” I don’t know,
but it made me think of the
Gospel, because of the form that he used when he prayed for me.
He used the word evil. “Lord take this evil away from this man so
that he may he healed.” I’m not evil and
it’s not because of evil that I’m who I am and how I am. It has
nothing to do with my parents and it’s
not because I did something wrong. It’s
not because I drew a short deck or a bad hand.
It’s not because of something I did in a past life. That’s
ridiculous. I’m this way because God loves me, because he
wanted something better for me, because he wanted to make sure that
everybody
else knew, that I encountered, if I got it right, knew that Jesus
Christ is
present in the world through me and it took me thirty-odd years to
realize
that; that I wasn’t living a sentence, that I wasn’t a bad person.
It was because God loves me and he loves you
too. We all have something, an issue, a
pain, a cough. Bear your pain with
patience and you have been chosen because God loves you not because
you’ve done
something wrong, not because you’re a bad person, not because you
deserve
it. Please don’t think that. Stop it.
It’s because you’re beautiful, because Jesus Christ sees something in
you that nobody else sees and He had that formed in his love from all
eternity.
That’s so important.
St.Teresa of Avila said, and she suffered very much if we read her
writing because one day, through one of her trials, she said, “Lord,
why do you
put such obstacles in front of us and she heard him respond, “My
daughter, quit
complaining. This is how I treat my
friends.” She said, “Lord, if this is
how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few.” That’s
very important. Today, during Lent, please keep that
in mind that we all
suffer in one way or another but it is for the good and God’s greater
good for
His love. Please don’t wait thirty
years. Don’t wait as long as I did to
realize that. I was blind but now I can
see. About six years ago, there was a
man who saw something in me and he put me in the seminary. If it
wasn’t for his belief in me, when I
didn’t believe in myself even though I knew God wanted something from
me, I
wouldn’t be standing here today in front of you an ordained priest.
When I was down, he used to tell me, “Anthony
if you study really hard, you work hard, stay up late, hit those books,
pray on
your knees, do what God tells you, one day you’re going to be mediocre.”
That’s your pastor Fr. John and for good or
bad, I’m a priest. So be sure to tell
him, “It’s all your fault.” That’s the love of God.
Please be happy, be joyful this weekend.
It’s Gaudate Sunday which means joy. That’s why we wear rose on this
one
day, even during Lent there is joy in our penance and in our suffering.
Please always keep in mind that no matter
where you are at, you are whole and you are lovable because you are
created in
the image and in the likeness of God. May our Lord be always on your mind,
on your lips and in
your heart.