Daily Office Readings for Monday of the 5th Week in Lent: Year 1
Morning Psalm 31; Evening Psalm 35;
Jeremiah 24:1 to 10; Romans 9:19 to 33; John 9:1 to 17
“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (John 9:3)
This man born blind is like people today who have never really known our Lord Jesus. And, like the man who was born blind, obeyed Jesus and washed as he was told, and received his sight for the first time, we too must do what Jesus says. This man is like so many who are brought to real sight today.
While many, even today, are kept in darkness and without clear vision of the righteous moral path, it is not necessarily the fault of misguided society, or un-churched parents, or even bad preaching. It is the individual lack of personal pondering about life and one’s place in the world. Again, let us hear the words of Blaise Pascal, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” I call this silent sitting, pondering. It is my Jesus time.
Jesus and his group came upon this man born blind who has no idea about color, or light, or the faces of people, or even the vast spectrum of the beauty of nature. His whole world has changed when given sight. So too our world changes when we are brought to loving light for the first time. But like the man born blind in our reading for today, we too must do as our Lord Jesus asks; we must wash in the waters of Baptism and do all other such commandments as Jesus asks of us.
We are co-creators with our Lord. And what, or rather who, is being created, is ourselves. And no matter where we are or how far we have come on our spiritual path, we are still a work in progress. We must always be willing to listen, learn, love and live out our covenant with our Lord Jesus. It starts here in this life, and continues throughout all eternity. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Let us live to love, more than we just love to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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