[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, March 19, Fourth Sunday of Lent JOHN 9:1-41 I heal the man born blind which causes a lot of controversy. Prayerthoughts a. There may be some people in my own circle of acquaintances who are physically blind? Do I treat them with the respect they deserve? b. The theology of the word “sent” is that Jesus was sent into the world to cure the blindness of people by his teachings. Am I reading the Gospel every day to learn what Jesus’s doctrine is? c. Do I spend enough time in prayer on my sabbath, that is Sunday? d. The parents of the man born blind are mentioned. Do I show parents the respect they deserve? If my parents are deceased, do pray for them often? e. The parents and the Jewish leaders did not want to acknowledge Jesus to be divine. Is it clrear by my actions, words and thoughts that I have truly accepted Jesus as a guide to my life? f. The Jewish leaders threw the cured man out because they did not want to listen to him speak about Jesus. Do I “listen” to the Lord by follpwing all of his directions? Is it true that sometimes I am blind to the Lord’s actions in the world and my life? g. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read Ephesians, chapter 5, and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy SPIRITUAL OPENNESS           As the Lord ministered during his life, he probably shook up a lot of people, mainly because you could not just listen to this man. There had to be some reaction. He probably caused a number of discussions in the different homes, discussion among the civil leaders, Roman soldiers, especially among the Scribes and Pharisees because he was talking about the same things they were—and Jesus was critical of them. The Gospel gives us an instance of just that. The Lord involves himself in the life of one man and it caused a chain reaction that is very good to study for people like us who want to develop their spiritual lives because it involves parallels for us.           The reaction of the Pharisees exemplifies a severe spiritual blindness that should not be part of our lives, but too often it is. The Pharisees refused to see God’s involvement in the life of the blind man. The parallel in our lives may be phrased this way—we sometimes take away the opportunity to have God work in our lives. We do not give God enough time in prayer or thought. God usually does not work by coming to us with some gigantic external sign, wake us up, and say, “Listen to what I say.” God works through the ordinary happenings in life and through the Scripture that we read. If we do not allow serious thinking about God in our lives, God will continue to talk with us, but we will not listen—and we could be causing some spiritual blindness toward God.           The reaction of the parents of the blind man might be called partial spiritual blindness. They saw God’s involvement with their son, but they were afraid to acknowledge God. The parallel in our own spiritual development may be this—in general, we know what our spiritual lives should be, because we hear about it every time we go to Church, but we choose not to follow it. It especially comes in the way we behave toward and think about others. We know what the Lord wants of us: we just do not want to do it.           The reaction of the blind man himself is one that can be called spiritual openness— “I do believe”, he finally said. It allows for a spiritual re-birth, allowing the light of God through Jesus to be part of who we are. We must allow him to infect us—if we can use that word—to get into our thoughts so much that it influences everything we do and say. What we are in love with will affect everything we do. It will decide how we get up in the morning, what we do in the evening, how we spend our weekends, what we read, who we will hang around with, what it is that breaks our hearts, what makes us happy, what makes us sad—everything we do.           Perhaps the most famous blind person in our history was also deaf, Helen Keller, and she said once, something I have quoted before: “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.” That idea of “vision”, I believe, is one of the best definitions of faith that we have. A vision is an overall goal that guides everything one does. If you possess this vision, this faith, you will be able to understand life. We Christians call that vision the vision of Jesus Christ. It means that we are open to everything Jesus wants for us.           Our spiritual lives ought to reflect spiritual openness—what we saw in the blind man, allowing ourselves to be open to the presence of God. Only then will we be able to grow in a spiritual way. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “I Will Wait” — Mumford & Sons DAYS OF DUST The Gospel MATTHEW 5:13-16 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Gospelthink: You are salt and light to this earth: help and shine upon it. Am I behaving as a person who is helping and giving light to others?

“Well I came home like a stone and I fell heavy into your arms. These days of dust which we’ve known will blow away with this new sun. But I’ll kneel down, wait for now, and I’ll kneel down, know my ground, and I will wait for you. We forgive and I won’t forget. Know what we’ve seen. I will wait for you. I’ll be bold as well as strong and use my head alongside my heart.”

The group Mumford & Sons’ song “I Will Wait” is a song of recognizing a problem of the past and now the man in the relationship is promising that the future will be different, and he will wait until she comes back into the relationship. Of course, he does not know whether she will come back or not, but the important thing is that he is recognizing what he has done. Once he does that, he reasons, there can be a good future, a “new sun,” they sing. The central part of our conversion to a better life is recognizing what the past has been like. In terms of Jesus’ opening reflection in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, if our past is not what it should have been, it’s like salt that has lost its flavor and light that is not shining. Jesus reminds us that our future will be good only if we season ourselves with the salt of our “heavenly Father” and become the light of God for a dark world. Jesus’ comparison of salt and light sets the tone for the life situations as described in the Sermon on the Mount. It also gives the foundation for day-to-day living and in particular for the romantic love situations of our world. If there are past problems, they must be changed in order to have a happy future. If a couple have had “days of dust” as the group Mumford & Sons sings, they must work at “blowing them away” so that the “new sun” will arise. If our living right now and indeed our future life is to improve, we must be aware of the wrongs that we have done in the past, and set out to do something about them. We can become salt and light only when we recognize the times when we were not salt and light.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son challenged us to be salt and light for our world. In order to do it a little better, help us first of all face the problems that we have had in the past, so that we can become the salt and light that we should be. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Preparing for a good future means recognizing past problems.    DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In what ways are we salt to the earth? 2. In what ways are we light to the world? 3. In our world today, what is the best way to let our light shine before others? 4. In your opinion, what person alive today is a light for others? 5. Text analysis: What are some examples of “days of dust”? 6. Text analysis: “New sun.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 7. Text analysis: “Know my ground.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 8. In general, how long should people in a past relationship “wait” for the other in the sense of waiting for them to come back to the relationship? Why? 9. Text analysis: “We forgive and I won’t forget.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 10. Text analysis: “Bold as well as strong.” What does the phrase mean as one talks of a romantic relationship? 11. Text analysis: “Use my head alongside my heart.” What does the phrase mean as one talks of a romantic relationship? 12. What are the most common problems in young relationships? 13. In your opinion, what is the one thing that must happen in order to bring about a happy future for a couple about to be married? 14. In your opinion, what is the best way to improve a person’s future? 15. What does the song “I Will Wait” teach young people?