Lord, I believe

Fourth Sunday in Lent Year A 22nd March 2020

Gospel John 9: 1–41 (part)

As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. He spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored. His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’

They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.’ Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them. So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet,’ replied the man. ‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied, ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.

Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and worshipped him.

Reflection (from PREGO - St Beuno’s Outreach)

(In this reflection we pray with only part of today’s Gospel. If you have opportunity, you may wish to spend  me with the complete text later on.)

After reading the text, I might like to approach this scene imaginatively. I pay attention to what I notice about the blind man, about Jesus’s response, about the man’s neighbours, the crowds and the Pharisees. Then, what do I sense going on within me?

As I pray the text again, I might imagine myself as the one needing healing. Jesus touches the parts of me he knows need healing. What is his touch like? How do I feel now?

When the man had been driven away, Jesus goes to find him.
In prayer, can I let myself be ‘found’ by Jesus? I look at him with my new sight, and I let myself be looked at, allowing my love for him to deepen. Perhaps I feel ‘sent’, wanting to tell others about him...

If I can, I end my prayer saying very slowly, ‘Lord I believe’ ...
I worship him in whatever way that is comfortable for me.