The Man Born Blind
by Sister Cecelia
The Man born blind 5 17 15 1 Pt 3:13-22, Ac 9:32-43, Jn 9: 1-39
We just heard the evangelist refer to the believers as Saints. The Greek word Hagios is frequently translated ‘holy’, but the root of the word means different. The Hebrew people were different set apart from the other people of this world. They were chosen to do the work of God. The Hagios are specifically a holy people. They are a different people chosen for the special purposes of God. Christians became the people who are different. That difference does not give us greater honor or prestige but does require of us a greater service. What might that service be? The greatest service we can give is to be the saint we are meant to be. A saint is someone whose life makes it easier for others to believe in God. Are we a living example of Jesus in how we live?
In Acts this morning, we witnessed that Peter did not say I heal you, but Jesus Christ heals you. And when he approached Tabitha he prayed for her to be healed. He did not say “be healed.”Anything we achieve comes from God. We need to give serious thought to what in Jesus we are striving daily to imitate. We believe many things about the Christ, about our God. Give some thought to why those things are believed. We believe in many mysteries of our faith. Think about why we believe them.
There are many things about Jesus which are not mysteries, many things about goodness, that we believe. Take the time to examine why you think they are true and why others might think so. For your own sake and for the sake of others who might someday ask why your belief, it is good to ponder these things. Be open to the Spirit when considering them. Reflecting on these things will help us to remember that we are grace-bearing creatures, commanded to be the salt of the earth and to be a light for those around us. If we obey this divine command of service offered to our community, lovingly, patiently, gently, through prayer, kindness, integrity, fidelity and all the rest that goes with being witnesses of Christ, healing will come through us to others.
If our hearts are set on earthly things, possessions, pleasure, good health, prestige, ease and comfort we are very vulnerable to unhappiness. Any of those things can be lost at any moment.
If the relationship with God is of the highest priority, our blessedness is secure. Even when we are suffering we can remember to unite our own suffering with Jesus’s sufferings and can attain peace. Sometimes we might be suffering because of less than smart decisions we have made, sometimes it is just due to the human condition. None of these sufferings can touch that which matters most –our union(relationship) with God.
We can often find ourselves stumbling in this world as if we were blind. We grasp and search for truth and wisdom in so many places, usually not seeing Jesus himself right in front of us. if we would focus our life on Christ and keep our minds focused on the one needful thing then we would see, we could affirm as did the blind man, “Lord, I believe.” Let us pray that Christ will illumine the way to that pearl of great price.—the source of all.
Christ is risen!!
Our faith is not a body of written down beliefs but a living example of Jesus in our life.
We just heard the evangelist refer to the believers as Saints. The Greek word Hagios is frequently translated ‘holy’, but the root of the word means different. The Hebrew people were different set apart from the other people of this world. They were chosen to do the work of God. The Hagios are specifically a holy people. They are a different people chosen for the special purposes of God. Christians became the people who are different. That difference does not give us greater honor or prestige but does require of us a greater service. What might that service be? The greatest service we can give is to be the saint we are meant to be. A saint is someone whose life makes it easier for others to believe in God. Are we a living example of Jesus in how we live?
In Acts this morning, we witnessed that Peter did not say I heal you, but Jesus Christ heals you. And when he approached Tabitha he prayed for her to be healed. He did not say “be healed.”Anything we achieve comes from God. We need to give serious thought to what in Jesus we are striving daily to imitate. We believe many things about the Christ, about our God. Give some thought to why those things are believed. We believe in many mysteries of our faith. Think about why we believe them.
There are many things about Jesus which are not mysteries, many things about goodness, that we believe. Take the time to examine why you think they are true and why others might think so. For your own sake and for the sake of others who might someday ask why your belief, it is good to ponder these things. Be open to the Spirit when considering them. Reflecting on these things will help us to remember that we are grace-bearing creatures, commanded to be the salt of the earth and to be a light for those around us. If we obey this divine command of service offered to our community, lovingly, patiently, gently, through prayer, kindness, integrity, fidelity and all the rest that goes with being witnesses of Christ, healing will come through us to others.
If our hearts are set on earthly things, possessions, pleasure, good health, prestige, ease and comfort we are very vulnerable to unhappiness. Any of those things can be lost at any moment.
If the relationship with God is of the highest priority, our blessedness is secure. Even when we are suffering we can remember to unite our own suffering with Jesus’s sufferings and can attain peace. Sometimes we might be suffering because of less than smart decisions we have made, sometimes it is just due to the human condition. None of these sufferings can touch that which matters most –our union(relationship) with God.
We can often find ourselves stumbling in this world as if we were blind. We grasp and search for truth and wisdom in so many places, usually not seeing Jesus himself right in front of us. if we would focus our life on Christ and keep our minds focused on the one needful thing then we would see, we could affirm as did the blind man, “Lord, I believe.” Let us pray that Christ will illumine the way to that pearl of great price.—the source of all.
Christ is risen!!
Our faith is not a body of written down beliefs but a living example of Jesus in our life.
