—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.—
To our minds Jesus’ statement presents an inconceivable problem. This man was born blind – afflicted – for the sole purpose of showing forth God’s power? Yet that is what happened. Affliction, fearful trouble, showed forth God’s light.
Look at the Gospel. The parents of the man born blind tried to avoid trouble:
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.——¨
They wanted to avoid doing the hard thing, attesting to the truth in the face of certain condemnation.
Jesus Christ proclaimed the fact that He is the light of the world. Yet, we still live in fear, fear of condemnation, fear of failure, fear of pain, sickness, misfortune, poverty, weakness. Fear… we fear it all. We fear because we forget that we have nothing to fear.
We have an opportunity today — to remind ourselves that there is nothing to fear as long as we cling to Christ and His Church.
Jesus brought the light, and His light penetrates to the depth of our being. Jesus asks that we allow His light to penetrate into our lives in the same way it penetrated into the life of the man born blind. Jesus’ light destroys all fear. His light does not provide for an easy-going existence, an existence where nothing bad will happen to us as long as we believe. Rather, His light provides for an existence, a life, where nothing, no man, no trouble, no illness, nothing can separate us from God’s love, God’s promise. Jesus’ light gives us the fulness of life – true life – where even in the face of fearful things we are free from fear, we are assured.
Brothers and sisters,
The Pharisees were all caught up in the healing of the blind man. They debated the healing. How could this happen? What could it mean? How was it brought about? They wanted the details and they missed the point, they missed the light. They missed Jesus. On the other hand the man born blind, who lived with the suffering and degradation brought about by his blindness, did not wonder at all. He didn’t curse his former life, ‘Jesus what took you so long,’ but looked at his new life with steadfast joy. He didn’t need an answer. He did not fear the Pharisees. He had the answer, Jesus.
Friends,
If we allow Christ’s light to penetrate us – if we become changed by it, we will have eternal life, a life where fear means nothing. Like the man born blind we will have the answer. We will fear nothing.
The example of our ancestors in faith, the holy saints, apostles, and martyrs, the founders of the PNCC and our parish, Bishops Hodur and Padewski, should be an example to us. There is nothing to fear if we hold true to our faith, if we join together in this holy cause. None backed down or apostatized in the face of fearful things. None at all, for they knew that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus’ light does not mean an end to suffering. In today’s world it is likely that we will suffer all the more for living in His light. But that suffering is brief – and in reality inconsequential. That suffering is nothing when measured against the promise of eternal life. A promise we are to proclaim – because by it the whole world will be healed and made whole.
Family,
Today, with our Lenten penitential service, we begin again, we renew our commitment, our decision to live in and with the light of Christ. We begin again in our decision to live in accord with our brothers and sisters in the Holy Church. We choose to reject sin and all fear, and we repent.
It is time, the Passiontide begins next week. It is time to choose the light of Christ, to reject all fear, to proclaim the cross and the resurrection. It is time to live in His light, and to reflect that light, sharing it with the world.
As St. Paul noted, we must:
Live as children of light,—¨
for light produces every kind of goodness—¨
and righteousness and truth.
It is our job. It is the truth we must proclaim. It is the struggle we must undertake. It is our work – and by it we will be victorious. Walk out of here today and be fearless. We have nothing to fear. We have chosen to live in the light of Christ.
Amen.