Laetare Sunday 2023

Homily: “Jesus Vision”

For some reason, this Lenten season, I have been very much exercised, or maybe better said, animated by a fascination with vision; with the ways by which we see. I’ve been reflecting on the vast differences that are apparent between a life lived out of a life-giving vision and a life lived out of a limited and limiting, or complete lack of, vision.

A number of years ago I was privileged to do doctoral studies in theology. And I chose to work on the 13th century German Mystic, Meister Eckhart. People would often complain about Eckhart saying: “He doesn’t mention Jesus enough!” And actually they are right, compared to other Christian mystics and spiritual writers, Eckhart doesn’t mention Jesus that often in all his writings and in all his sermons. But as I discovered in my studies, he doesn’t mention Jesus because he doesn’t need to. Christ was the way Eckhart saw. Christ was how he saw the structure of reality. Christ was the way he saw other human beings. And Christ was the way he saw even himself.

As we reflect this Laetare Sunday on the story of the “Man Born Blind” in John’s gospel, I think, it’s important to remember: Jesus is not WHO we see. Jesus is HOW we see.

We are told in our first reading today, “Not as humans see does God see, because humans see that appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.” And that is not meant to simply remind us of our inherently limited vision as human beings, that is also meant to remind us of the invitation we each have received to learn to see as God sees. Our gospel passage today models this learning.

The Man Born Blind knows one thing is true, he says: “This man put clay on my eyes and told me to go and wash and I was healed. I was blind but now I see.” This man didn’t just come to see who Jesus is; he came to see as Jesus sees. Notice his remarkable consistency and bravery throughout the story. The people around him, his neighbors and friends, say to him: “You can’t be who you say you are because you are not who we say you are!” The legitimate religious authorities of his day threaten him multiple times and eventually expel him from the faith community. And his own parents, seeking to protect themselves, basically through him under the bus. And the man never budges. He remains utterly faithful to reality and his experience of it. He refuses to bear false witness whatever the cost. Because when Christ is not just who we see but how we see… then we see, not just appearances, but the heart. The heart of the matter, the heart of the other, our own hearts and once we are rooted in that vision we will let nothing blind us again! Our life becomes so directed, so shaped, so formed by this life-giving vision, that we’d rather suffer death than abandon it.

Jesus tells the Pharisees: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but you say, ‘We see’ so your sin remains.” They see by appearances and their limited vision only wreaks havoc in the world and on the lives of others. The Man Born Blind, by Christ’s healing power, sees the heart; he sees life and the opportunities to give life so no threat, no coercion, and no rejection is going to rob him of that vision.

As a good Jewish man, the Man Born Blind refuses to bear false witness. As a good disciple of Jesus he refuses to engage in the Sin Against the Holy Spirit: He will not call what he knows to be of God, evil and he will not call what is evil, of God.

We are all called to that same vision: Jesus is not WHO we see. Jesus is HOW we see. And when we live by that vision we will live lives that give life to others.