Saint Rita Catholic Church and School in Webster, NY - An Introduction to Sunday's Scripture Readings

“Do You Believe In The Son Of Man?”

Our readings for this Sunday are united by the themes of light vs. darkness—what God sees contrasted with what man cannot see, at least not without God's grace and inspiration.

Our first reading (1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13) continues our journey through Salvation history. This Sunday, we hear of the anointing of the young shepherd boy David as King of Israel. God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse saying that he would anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next King of Israel. Samuel met seven of Jesse’s sons, but God rejected all of them. Then, finally, the youngest son David, the shepherd, was presented and God said, “There—anoint him, for this is the one.” God saw what Samuel could not see. God looked into the heart and chose the ruddy youth David. Samuel anointed him to be the new King of Israel. “Not as man sees does God see”.

In our Epistle reading (Ephesians 5:8-14), Saint Paul reminds us that we have had our spiritual sight restored in Christ Jesus through our Baptism - we are no longer in darkness but are “children of the light in the Lord.” This brings certain responsibilities and expectations. Paul writes, “Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth . . . Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness.”

Our Gospel reading (John 9:1-41) is the story of Jesus healing the man blind from birth. Jesus healed the man with spittle and dust (clay), similar to God at creation, who formed man from His spittle and the dust of the earth. This blind man, in his healing, walks a similar journey as last week’s Gospel story of the Woman at the Well. First, Jesus is just “a man”, then Jesus is “a prophet”. Finally, Jesus asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?’” He said, “I do believe, Lord.” This is a story about spiritual blindness vs. physical blindness. It is representative of our Baptism. The blind man sees completely, but the Pharisees, though they can see physically, are still blind spiritually.

In this Gospel story, physical blindness can be seen as spiritual blindness. Its healing can be seen as the influence of the Holy Spirit in Baptism. Even though we see the world around us with our eyes, without God's grace, we are still in darkness. Grace gives the eyes of our soul the ability to see God, to know God, and to share God with others. As Saint Paul tells us, we must "Live as children of the light."