Normally I toss these reflections off before heading to Mass, but events today (including my web client deciding to bog down like cement) decided that was not going to happen. Perhaps I needed some perspective from the catechumenal class I am leading, or I needed to hear the Bishop's sermon today, but in any case, it is substantially after Mass that I offer some reflections on today's Gospel lesson (found here).
Our Bishop today talked about conflicting narratives. It was a very good sermon with lots of talking points. Listening to it led me to the thoughts that today's reading (a very long one) was full of expectations. In the sermon, the expectations lined up with the narrative the participants in the story accepted as their outlook. Here we find quite a few:
The religious experts of the day expected that personal catastrophe is a direct result of personal sin.
These same experts expect that adhering literally to every aspect of the law takes precedence over any act however merciful.
The blind man had no expectations, in fact, society had given him nothing to expect.
The blind man's parents expected dealings with the religious authorities to be trouble.
Our Lord expects mercy to take precedence over meticulous observance of the letter of the law.
Our Lord also expected the religious experts NOT to "get it."
Despite the witness of the prophets both major (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) and minor (Malachi, Habbakuk, etc.) where God says time and again that acts of mercy toward the oppressed and downtrodden are more important than any sacrifice or precept, the authorities of the day insisted on adherence over basic need. Our Lord took them to task over it frequently, telling them they did not understand their own treasury of the faith despite their insistence they did so. It was in this miracle that He yet again showed that their hearts were hardened against their fellows and contrary to the witness of the Law and Prophets they asserted that they upheld. The shameful treatment of the man, whom they stated was born in sin, proved the opposite, that they were enveloped themselves in sin. In claiming that they saw and understood, Our Lord took that opportunity to tell them if indeed they see then they remain themselves in sin.
How often do we cling to externals and rules to the detriment of others? How often do we use our "obligations" to shirk our duty to show God's love and mercy to those around us? The Lord's warning is not merely to the Scribes and Pharisees, but to us. When we lose sight of those whom we are to serve, then everything else around us instead of becoming our commendation becomes our condemnation. If our expectations fall out of line of that of Our Lord who brought the Good News to the downtrodden, then do we not throw our lot in with those who oppose Him? Do we charge others with being out of line only to find ourselves in so doing to be woefully out of line too?
Part of Lent is to engage in that self-examination of our motives and expectations, to identify what is not in line with God's will, and to work repentance. It is not to "stop sinning" so much as to "start doing right," and that starts by resetting our expectations. Let us turn our expectations and begin that good work to which God calls us.