The God Who Works Through Processes: From Blindness to Sight
As we continue our Lenten journey toward Easter, we are already drawing closer to the Lord’s Passover. We have travelled more than half of the Lenten path and we are very near to celebrating the Lord’s Passover, which awakens in us a joyful hope. That is why today we celebrate Laetare Sunday, the Sunday of joy.
It is part of our human experience to walk in the full light of day and to walk in the darkness of night. If we walk during the day, we see clearly; if we walk at night, our vision becomes limited or even impossible. Experience therefore teaches us that we need light in order to see clearly.
The same happens when we try to understand and reach the truth about things and situations. If we do so with only a quick glance, the conclusion we reach will often be superficial and shaped by appearances. However, if we approach things with a contemplative and reflective gaze that goes beyond what is immediate, the conclusion will be deeper, more accurate, and less mistaken. Who among us has not been wrong in judging or expressing an opinion because we did not first make room for listening and reflection?
We therefore need that inner light that allows us to see clearly. For we do see — but what do we see? What is our way of looking? The prophet Samuel himself, when he was looking for the king he was to anoint, saw Eliab and thought: “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed,” because his appearance matched Samuel’s idea of what a king should be like. But the Lord enlightened and corrected him: “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see; humans look at appearances, but God looks at the heart.” Like Samuel, we are called to see beyond what is apparent and superficial. We are called to look with a gaze shaped by God’s own way of seeing. Samuel himself had to go through an inner process of “improving his vision” in order to align it with God’s.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus appears and sees a man blind from birth. And what does he see? Certainly not a “sinner,” as his disciples did, but a man in whom the works of God could be revealed.
Thus begins the process of vision. Jesus “saw,” “spat on the ground,” “made mud,” “placed it on his eyes,” and “said to him: go and wash.” The process begins with Jesus’ gaze and continues with his gestures and words. In response, the blind man opens himself to the process and cooperates: he “went,” “washed,” “returned,” “saw,” and then “gave testimony” and “professed his faith” in Jesus, before whom he bowed down.
The process of Samuel and the process of the blind man is also our own process as baptized Christians and disciples of Jesus. It is a process of illumination and inner transformation that can only begin through a daily encounter with God, with Jesus. He is the Light and the Life. Where do we go to seek light for our confusions and our nights? Often we turn to quick, intense, and fleeting lights which, once tried, leave us in even greater darkness.
Let us go to the heart of Jesus, the inexhaustible source of Light that makes everything clear. Let us enter into dialogue with Jesus, into conversation with his Word. Let us allow ourselves to be enlightened. To whom shall we go? Let us give ourselves a chance by giving God the opportunity to encounter us. Let us place our hope and our life in Him in these times of violence, anguish, and despair. A new generation is emerging in this humanity — what new light and life do they bring? What light shall we offer these children and adolescents who are growing before our eyes today? Let us collaborate in and foster processes of life, not flashes that dazzle and disappear. May Jesus be our Light, our Passover.
Sr. Susana Sívori
Province of Saint Rose of Lima
