Daily Retreat 03/02/08
2008 Mar 2 SUN: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. Second Scrutiny of the Elect.
1 Sm 16: 1b. 6-7. 10-13a/ Ps 22(23): 1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6 (1)/ Eph 5: 8-14/ Jn 9: 1-41
From today’s readings: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.... The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.... Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.... If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
See What I Mean?
Of the body’s five senses, seeing is clearly our most developed and most crucial sense. We seldom follow our nose, unless, of course, it’s leading us to those fascinating affairs of our neighbors which really are none of our business. We certainly savor our taste, but even the blandest diet need not make life itself insipid. The world would decidedly be less musical if we lost our hearing, but if we had to, we could see our way through that. Our sense of touch is obviously omnipresent, and thus more essential than we probably realize, but it doesn’t provide us with the same depth of sensory data that comes from our sight.
But how dark life would be if we could not see! If day were as colorless as night, how we would long for the blessing of sight! And yet, the scriptures argue that there’s something worse than blindness in the eyes, and that would be, blindness in the heart!
In the first reading, God reminds His prophet not to make a hasty approval based on Eliab’s sightly impression, for the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” And the heart, for its part, looks for the Lord!
The second reading too, urges us to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” Such virtuous things aren’t the result of physical photosynthesis, but they are cultivated by the sunlight of God’s saving revelation that shines in the heart who learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Chapter Nine of John’s Gospel focuses on that man born blind who saw the light, not just the light of day, but Jesus, the true Light of the World! But the illuminating and enlightening account ends with a very dark warning to the Pharisees, when Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.”
It’s clearly easy for you and me also to say, “We see!” but do we? Do you and I see all the Lord endeavors to show us? Or do we see only what we want to see from Him? For His light reveals not only the colors of the world, but also the true color of our hearts, and whatever sin and selfishness might be lurking there. But as hard as it is, we need to expose our hearts fully to the Light of Christ, which alone drives out the fruitless deeds of darkness. "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
1 Sm 16: 1b. 6-7. 10-13a/ Ps 22(23): 1-3a. 3b-4. 5. 6 (1)/ Eph 5: 8-14/ Jn 9: 1-41
From today’s readings: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.... The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.... Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.... If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
See What I Mean?
Of the body’s five senses, seeing is clearly our most developed and most crucial sense. We seldom follow our nose, unless, of course, it’s leading us to those fascinating affairs of our neighbors which really are none of our business. We certainly savor our taste, but even the blandest diet need not make life itself insipid. The world would decidedly be less musical if we lost our hearing, but if we had to, we could see our way through that. Our sense of touch is obviously omnipresent, and thus more essential than we probably realize, but it doesn’t provide us with the same depth of sensory data that comes from our sight.
But how dark life would be if we could not see! If day were as colorless as night, how we would long for the blessing of sight! And yet, the scriptures argue that there’s something worse than blindness in the eyes, and that would be, blindness in the heart!
In the first reading, God reminds His prophet not to make a hasty approval based on Eliab’s sightly impression, for the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” And the heart, for its part, looks for the Lord!
The second reading too, urges us to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” Such virtuous things aren’t the result of physical photosynthesis, but they are cultivated by the sunlight of God’s saving revelation that shines in the heart who learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Chapter Nine of John’s Gospel focuses on that man born blind who saw the light, not just the light of day, but Jesus, the true Light of the World! But the illuminating and enlightening account ends with a very dark warning to the Pharisees, when Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.”
It’s clearly easy for you and me also to say, “We see!” but do we? Do you and I see all the Lord endeavors to show us? Or do we see only what we want to see from Him? For His light reveals not only the colors of the world, but also the true color of our hearts, and whatever sin and selfishness might be lurking there. But as hard as it is, we need to expose our hearts fully to the Light of Christ, which alone drives out the fruitless deeds of darkness. "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
posted by FrPitstick | 3/01/2008
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