Scripture Reflection, March 15, 2026, Fourth Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-41

Today's gospel, John 9:1–41, is quite long. A shorter option is offered but the longer version is well worth reading. We see a fascinating cast of characters each with their own degree of sightedness and blindness.

We see a man who was born blind, is cured of his physical blindness by Jesus and comes to spiritual sight gradually. We see neighbors who suddenly do not recognize the same man they had seen begging earlier. We see Pharisees who refuse to see divine action in such a healing because it would challenge their “no work on the Sabbath” rule. We see the cured man's parents refuse to admit their son’s healing because they were “afraid” to be expelled from the synagogue if they were to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ.

We see different kinds of blindness and sightedness: one, physical blindness from birth, others, examples of blindness willfully chosen.

And what about us? You and me? Because the gospel stories are never about only those people. We, too, can be willfully blind.

If I refuse to see what is happening to my brown and black brothers and sisters…

If I refuse to see the human cost, both military and civilian, of a war of choice…

If I refuse to see the destruction of the beautiful earth I planned to leave to my children and grandchildren because of our dependence on fossil fuels…

If I refuse to see the suffering caused by diseases previously thought eradicated, like measles…

If I refuse to see tragic injustice when sins against women and children go unprosecuted…

… then I have chosen my blindness.

At the end of the complete gospel story Jesus addresses those Pharisees who said to him, "Surely we are not also blind are we? “ Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ "so your sin remains. “

by: Pat Schnee, OPA