Sunday of the Blind Man 2015 Fr Michael Margitich

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the

Holy Spirit. Christ is risen. The last few Sundays,

the Gospels have been lengthy and filled with

tremendous spiritual teachings and insight. Like

today, it covered 38 verses. Now the rector has

given me only 40 minutes to give this sermon.

So I want to limit this homily to one brief question.

And I quote, As Jesus passed by, he saw a man

who was born blind from birth. And his disciples

asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his

parents that he was born blind. This question

relating to one aspect of man that has been discussed

since time memorial. That is to say suffering.

appears in this ninth chapter of the Gospel of

St. John. It's a question that I'm sure all of

us at one time or another have raised. And at

one time or another, in different wording, we

are confronted with the question of why. Man's

most continuous, perplexing, disturbing and haunting

questions, why? Now in raising the question,

the apostles... We're looking for some explanation

from Christ to answer this one word, why. But

Jesus did not say why the man was born blind.

Jesus did not say that it was the man's sins.

Or his parents. Jesus never really elaborated

on the question. Because at that time, in the

Old Testament teaching, the fact is that if man

was sick, he therefore sinned. But Christ rejected

that explanation. Jesus said, neither had this

man nor his parents. And I want to emphasize

this. But that the works of God should be made

manifest in him. That the works of God. So Jesus

used this. Moment then. To reveal the power.

And the glory of God. Through Christ. By restoring.

The sight to the blind man. And it was on this

occasion. That Jesus said. I am the light of

the world. But the fact remains, there is innocent

suffering in this world and we know it. Individuals

suffer not because of sin necessarily, but individuals

do bring pain and suffering and sorrow and grief.

Upon themselves. When they either forget. Or

they reject. Or they drift. From God's teachings.

That's a spiritual law of gravity. Now from the

Christian perspective. Doubts and questions about

God. and human suffering should always be filtered

through what Jesus taught and accomplished through

his teachings, through the cross, and through

the resurrection. These divine events are not

only historical facts. But they are also windows

permitting us to see some spiritual truths. Suffering

is not without meaning. And the reason I say

this is because God himself shared suffering.

God so loved the world that he gave that he gave

his only begotten son who bore our griefs carried

our sorrows and was wounded for our sins as we

hear the prophet Isaiah tell us. What is so remarkable

is that Christ left the joy and beauty of heaven,

entered into our world, taking upon himself our

human nature. And so therefore he saw, he felt,

and he experienced. This world. Of sin. But there's

another aspect to this. Whole issue. Throughout

my ministry. Both in counseling. And in hearing

confessions. I have heard. More than I could

tell you. The agonizing cries of those who said,

Father, I'm suffering and in despair because

God could never forgive me for what I have done.

Or I have heard this, I have made bad choices

and immoral decisions that even God himself could

not forgive. Or my sins are beyond God's ability

to forgive. And I could go on. It's a sad litany.

But it's true, my dear people. It's true. But

I want to say to you that on the basis of the

Bible, I want you to know that our heavenly God

through our Son, the Redeemer, has the divine

power to remove our sufferings and forgive us

our sins. We have an awesome God, the God Himself

who was crucified in order to heal our sicknesses.

What is a handful of sand thrown into the ocean?

Not a single grain remains visible on the water.

And that's what happens when we come to Christ

with contrition and offer our sins and seek his

forgiveness. This is precisely what happens to

our sins. They are dumped in the ocean of God's

love. So never say to me, God won't forgive me

because of what I did. He already has. They are

nothing, our sins are nothing in comparison to

the awesomeness and unlimited ocean of love of

God. Do we not hear in our prayers constantly,

God is compassionate and merciful. Who loves

the sinner. That seems like a contradiction,

doesn't it? God loves the sinner. We are his

creation. He died for us. The enemy of our salvation

is the devil. No need for me to offer any philosophical

theories. The devil is one who repeatedly tells

us, in different and in compromising ways that

God is powerless when it comes to our human suffering.

The devil tells us there's no way you could ever

be forgiven. He also tells us that we are dreamers

if we think, if we think we could just clothe

our sins. With pride in self -righteousness.

Isn't it true? And this is what's so remarkable.

There are Christian history tells us. That there

are those who have sinned mightily against God.

But through sorrow and faith were not only saved.

But reached the highest pinnacle of holiness.

How could we forget Mary of Egypt? Zacchaeus.

Peter who denied Christ three times. With blasphemy.

Mary Magdalene, and we could go on and on. St.

Gregory, the theologian, wrote these words. No

matter what difficulties may come, what pain

and suffering may bring. They are means of medicine.

Life in the final analysis is not what happens

to us, but what happens within us. Accepting

pain does not mean that we should be happy. I

sure don't get up in the morning and say, well,

Lord, give me one more punch in the gut. But

there is reason behind suffering, which is not

always understood from the Christian perspective.

The great Christian preacher St. John Chrysostom

observed that pain and suffering can only bring

us closer to God. So we rejoice therefore not

in the fact that we suffer but in the confidence

that our suffering can be transformed. And as

you and I continue our pilgrimage of faith in

this school of life, we are at times confronted

with the problem or problems of illness, sorrow

and grief, agony, Of body and mind. And so. It's

human I guess to ask why. Saint Paul who was

no stranger. To. Suffering as we heard in today's.

Epistle reading. Who suffered beatings. Torture.

Imprisonment. Shipwreck. He continued preaching.

And this is what he had to say. Now we see in

the mirror dimly. Now we know only in part. Only

in part. Lest we think that we can answer these

questions. Let me remind you what the great prophet

of the Old Testament said. God's thoughts are

not our thoughts. And his ways are not our ways.

The mystery of why can be transformed into these

words which Jesus said before. He passed on before

he was crucified. In his farewell message in

John's gospel, he said, Do not let your hearts

be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in

me. In the name of the Father. The Son and the

Holy Spirit.