The Gospel Maximum of Love and Holiness

Fourth Sunday of Lent
Sunday Readings
by Jessi Kary

Born blind from birth, the man in this Gospel likely had a heightened sense of hearing. Without the ability to see, his other senses would have developed more fully in an attempt to compensate for his lack of sight. Perhaps we can consider this a particular way the Father cultivated his heart to receive the Good New and profess faith in Jesus Christ. The blind man was disposed to listening. He listened not only to the external world with a profound acuteness, but also the whisperings he found within his own heart. Thus, when he heard the voice of Christ, he spoke to Jesus of the desires of his heart.

Do I take time to pause and listen to the thoughts, feelings, and desires in my heart?
Do I bring them to Jesus without reservation?

The blind man is also an example to us because he allowed Jesus to use his poverty to glorify the Father. He boldly professed faith in Jesus – both to Christ and to the Scribes. He offered not only the poverty of his blindness to be transformed by Christ but also the poverty of his status. The teachers of the law ridiculed him for trying to teach them. Yet, touched and transformed by Christ, the man said, “He is a prophet.”

Do I offer Jesus my poverty, my weakness, my inability, my insufficiencies, trusting in God’s strength rather than my own?
Or do I ignore my poverty or try to overcome it, trusting in my own strength.

Giuliana invites us into the apostolic silence that transforms the world. The blind man surely pondered in silence and responded with courage to the invitation of Christ and became a powerful witness of Jesus. We are invited into apostolic silence as well.

“I would like only to remind us of the times when the Virgin Mary was silent, ‘Pondering in her heart all the wonders of the Almighty.’ Mary’s silence is full of meaning; it is filled with the Word. It is almost like an Easter Vigil, preparing Mary for other silences; the silence under the Cross, in order to accept with fortitude the death of her Son; the silence of the Cenacle, in order to bring forth her sons, courageous witnesses of the Resurrection.

Mary’s silence becomes our silence, a heroic silence about self and every thing in order to treasure the wonders which the Lord does in and through us. May we accept silence in reparation for the weaknesses and failures that fill our days. May our silence, like suffering accepted in love, produce Redemption. May the Virgin Mary teach us apostolic silence and help us speak only one phrase, ‘Here I am.’” (Giuliana Spigone).

Am I afraid or unwilling to say, “Here I am” – just as I am?
Am I honest as I speak to the Lord – presenting myself just as I am?

“May the Virgin Mary teach us apostolic silence and help us speak only one phrase, ‘Here I am.’”

The Gospel Maximum of Love and Holiness