Today’s gospel has a powerful message to us that goes well beyond the politics of a healing on the sabbath. To understand the message we have to go to almost the beginning. I don’t mean when Jesus approaches the man born blind or even the question of the apostles. I mean eight days after Jesus’ birth at the presentation. Remember that story, and Simeon says to Mary and Joseph: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) ¹¹ so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34-35 NAB)

Now let’s to the scene in today’s gospel and we will see that everything that Simeon predicted happens here.

First notice two things: the pharisees are trying to have complete control of the situation and they assume they do. What they don’t see is that Jesus is in complete control at every step. Again, He is revealing the thoughts of many hearts.

The man is healed, but notice how he is healed: Jesus in other parts of the gospel makes a command and people are healed or even raised from the dead. The girl who is dead whom Jesus says is just asleep is raised with the words Talitha Koum which the gospel tells us means, little girl get-up.

Here, Jesus takes some serious steps to heal the man. It is the Sabbath and what He is doing is challenging the leaders of the people. He is not only healing on the Sabbath, but He is putting some serious work into it. He is using clay and spit. This is to rile up the pharisees and get them angry. He could have healed just with a command, but he goes the extra step to heal not only the man born blind, but also to lay bear the hearts of the pharisees. At this stage, Jesus is a form of warrior. He is fighting against a darkness that veils itself as light and is imprisoning the people is a false piety.

If you find yourself reading this gospel passage and see that Jesus turns the scene into a circus, then Jesus has done his job. That is the point. He is making a fool out of the Pharisees by showing everyone how they take the law so seriously that they mock and insult a man when they should be rejoicing with him. There is no connection between them and the people they are claiming to serve nor to the God they claim to worship. They have been shown to be over-zealous for the law while turning their back on the needs of the poor. If that formula sounds familiar, it is found in several places in the Old Testament where God dismisses his people as committing abomination even when their sacrifices are flawless because they turn their backs on the poor. If you recognize their hypocrisy, Jesus has accomplished his mission in this case, laying bear the hearts of these men.

Look at the meanness, their harassment, the anger, the lack of compassion: it is all there and everything that was done to reveal this was set in motion by Jesus himself.

Yet, notice something else, when all is said and done, the man too is not only healed physically of blindness he is also spiritually able to see. He can recognize Jesus for whom he is, something the pharisees refuse to do. All the while Jesus is in control of the situation.

Now what do we do with this.

If this gospel should tell you anything it is to stay faithful to the gospel and to Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to enter your heart and to change your way of thinking so that you grow in holiness and and lose any and all forms of spiritual blindness.

We live in a secularized world and many people grow anxious at how much rejection of God there is in the world. They wonder what our future is as a people of faith. Have no fear. Your role is to stay faithful and seek to grow in holiness. The more you do this, the more you will begin to see the w0rld for what it is and understand the deeper truths that are there for those who seek Christ.

Let me give you an example: The more you can see spiritually, the more you can see through those who reject Christ purposely and can see deeper truths despite their best efforts to keep you blind to them. Like the pharisees, they have no ability to silence the word of God.

For example, people complain that you can mention any focus of faith in the world except Jesus and they get upset that you cannot mention Jesus in so many places but you can say Buddha until the cows come home. Yet, if you take that same situation and turn it around, does it not confirm exactly what I mentioned in the words from the presentation. It is that name that divides people more than any other name. Do not get upset when people are discriminated against for saying Jesus’ name recognize it is a confirmation of exactly what the bible teaches and that Jesus’ name is the powerful name that we know it to be. .

I may have told you of the man I angered who claimed to be associated with a group seeking to lead people to blaspheme the holy spirit and be permanently separated from God. The man threatened me and wrote nasty e-mails to my superiors. Let us face it, when someone in a group like this hates you, you have to be doing something right. However, what is the fascinating thing about everything I experienced in that moment: Everything this man wrote to me and my superiors, which was viciously blasphemous, also purposely misspelled the name of Jesus each and every time. That simple fact confirmed for me again the power of that name especially in light of who was hating upon it. Doesn’t St. Paul say that only in the Holy Spirit can someone say Jesus is Lord. A man who calls people to reject Jesus cannot say His name. That is powerfully confirming of what we see.

We say that Roman Catholicism is now the only acceptable prejudice, but who founded our Church, was it not Jesus Christ himself. Why would not people reject our Church if this was the case?

Despite appearances to the contrary, God is always in charge and the closer we get to him, the more we come to understand this very truth.

When we get back to the gospel, do not focus on the attempts by the Pharisees to silence the man, the separate him from this family, to cast them all out of the temple. No, instead focus on the bigger picture, take in all the details and learn from them. Then when you look out in the world, see the Lord is still with us even in the most difficult of situations against the Church and know that yes there is a spiritual battle going on, but one of the parties in the battle is God Himself, He is battling for us, and no one can cause Him to lose. Watch the battle and know the God is with us in it.

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Somerville, MA and is the editor of this blog. You may also find his videos in English at Gloria.tv. He also has a regular radio program on both Radio Maria, New York/New England in Spanish and WebRadio Canção Nova.