tvc . dsj . org | March 21 , 2017 Spirituality 9

By Father Brendan McGuire

Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish , San Jose , and Vicar General for special projects , Diocese of San Jose . Email him at bmcguire @ dsj . org .

Journey of Faith is a Process Sunday , March 26 , 2017

After the 4-year-old ’ s mother replied , “ No !” on the third occasion to something the little girl wanted , the 4-year-old stomped in front of her mother and said , “ I hate you ! I hate you !” She stormed off to her bedroom . Ten minutes later , she was back playing and talking with her Mom again . None of us would take those words seriously from a 4-year-old ; we understand that the child is just having a tantrum .

However , if a 40-year-old woman went to her mother saying , “ I hate you ! I hate you !” it would mean something very different . When we are children , we do not understand the weight of our words . The word “ hate ” is a very harsh word – even just repeating it , as the child had , sounds so harsh . The child does not really understand what he or she is saying .

When we enter our teenage years , our adult years , and then our mature adult years , we learn how things work . We become much more aware ; we see things differently with more awareness ; we are much more conscious of the power of words to do damage , the power of words to heal or to hurt .

In today ’ s Gospel , we hear of a man who was born blind but who receives his sight , not because he has asked for it , but because of the goodness of God . John ’ s Gospel does not require faith for miracles or “ signs ,” as they are called in John ’ s Gospel , to work . Unlike in the Synoptic Gospels , which require faith before a miracle can work , in John ’ s Gospel , Jesus typically works with somebody who does not have faith . In John ’ s Gospel , faith comes after the sign , as it does in today ’ s Gospel .

The man is born blind – and while Jesus and his disciples walk by , the disciples ask Jesus , “ Why is he blind ? Is it because of the sins of his parents or his sins ?” Jesus says , “ Neither .” He goes over and puts a little spittle on the ground and heals him . The healed man slowly comes to faith as he is forced to answer the questions of the Jews . He then comes to a deeper faith by his own questioning , by his own searching for answers . How was he healed ?

Often times , we come to see our faith differently as we experience life , but we must enter into the questioning . We must find a way to ask the questions because asking is what brings us to a deeper faith ; we reach more mature and richer levels each time we ask questions . It is the journey we must go through ; it is what the blind man does . He receives grace , and he builds upon that grace by cooperating and asking questions . Then he comes to an even deeper faith .

May we not settle ourselves with a faith that we learned at 10 or 12 years old . We need to continue to ask questions about our faith because our eyes become open as time passes . As we begin to see more , then we take more steps and we do more things . It is only with faith opened by eyes of faith that we come to the full realization of what we are called to do in faith for one another as a community .

Come Out ; Unbind Him and Let Him Go Sunday , April 2 , 2017

In John ’ s Gospel , all of Jesus ’ miracles are called signs and each sign brings about faith . In the Synoptic Gospels , we have to have faith to receive the miracle . In John ’ s Gospel , we begin without faith ; then sign brings about faith . Today ’ s miracle is the seventh of the seven signs . From here the Gospel points to Christ himself . Christ is the ultimate sign , who becomes the Sacrament of God .

John ’ s Gospel is the most sophisticated of all the Gospels , and every detail is written for a reason . There are three things that happen in today ’ s sign that are very significant for us as disciples . First , it is the call . Jesus does not do anything other than invite us . He calls us out of our darkness . He says to Lazarus , “ Come out !” But before he calls , he first removes the stone . He says , “ Remove the stone ; take away the stone .” In other words , in our lives , God will remove the obstacles in our lives , and then he will call to us and invite us , “ Brendan , come out — come follow me . Listen to me .”

Bear in mind , Lazarus has been dead in the tomb for four days , and one could understand that darkness as being comfortable for him . Often times , in our lives , we have sunk into darkness , and we do not want to leave it because we have grown comfortable with the darkness . We have grown familiar with the pain of our lives , and we like it – not because we like it in and of itself – but we like it because it is familiar . We remain unhappy but in a familiar place . The Lord says to us , “ Come out !”

This leads to the second step of the sign or miracle : Lazarus has to respond . Even in death , Jesus gives Lazarus the choice of whether to be healed or to remain in darkness . That is what he will do for us . Even in the midst of it , we can still languish in our darkness ; we can still choose to ignore the healing power of his voice that says , “ Come out of your darkness , Brendan ! Come out !” We can still choose to remain in there , but Lazarus does not ; Lazarus comes out . We too are called to come out , to listen to the voice of God , and to step into the beautiful light of Christ .

The third and the most important part of almost all of his signs : they are always done in community . He says it to the community , “ untie him and let him go .” In other words , the miracle is not complete until the community participates and unties him . When we go through our transformation of being called out and responding to God ’ s call to come follow him , we do so in a particular community , and it is that community that unties us or unbinds us and let ’ s us go , validating the miracle , validating our discipleship .

Today , we listen to that call and acknowledge the darkness from which he is calling us . Can we respond by walking out into the light and allowing others to unbind us and set us free ?

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