Father John Cush
Father Robert Barron has been a favorite writer of mine since I was a seminarian. He has a tremendous capacity to bring the truth of the Catholic faith into dialogue with culture.
In the preface of his book, “And Now I See,” Barron writes: “Christianity is, above all, a way of seeing. What unites figures as diverse as James Joyce, Caravaggio, John Milton, the architect of Chartres, Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the later Bob Dylan is a peculiar and distinctive take on things, a style, a way, which flows finally from Jesus of Nazareth.”
Catholic Viewpoint
Yes, Christianity is a way of seeing and a way of viewing the world. The early Christians called their faith “The Way,” (Acts 9:2) and indeed, being a Christian, being Catholic in the world today, requires us to perceive the world differently than all others. The Gospel we proclaim today is all about how we see the world.
In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus takes a man who has been blind from birth and heals him. This act of charity and healing causes some scandal. If He were really whom He said He was, this Jesus would never violate the Sabbath. Acting entirely on the level of human passion, acting with jealousy and wrath, the Pharisees, those devout men who longed for the revealing of the Messiah, failed to recognize Him. So enraged were they that the Pharisees brought the healed man’s parents in to be questioned. Intimidated, all they can utter is: “He is of age; ask him yourself.”
Vision, Physical and Spiritual
All in the story are acting on the natural level, seeing this as a case of one who was physically blind and who now has acquired vision. Even the healed man himself at first fails to recognize exactly what he has experienced. When the Pharisees ask him what has happened to him, he says, simply and beautifully: “All I know is that I was blind and now I can see.” Later, the healed man is able to comprehend the immensity of what has occurred. The Lord Jesus has taken him from darkness into light, not just the light of physical vision but the light of faith and the promise of the ultimate end for those with faith – being able to see God face to face.
This story is all about seeing, all about perceiving. It is about moving from this world’s darkness to the light of Christ. So, we must ask: How do we as Catholic Christians see in this world? Does our Christian faith have a true, real and lasting effect on how we live our 21st-century lives? For those who might answer no, I would like to suggest three ways in which our distinctly Catholic Christian view of the world can impact how we live our lives.
Awareness of Sin
First, I would like to posit that the Catholic teaching on the creation of humanity and the Incarnation has to inform all of our relationships. Because we are created in the image and likeness of the Divine, we are created fundamentally good. The reality of sin is present in our world. Each of us needs to be aware of the presence of sin in the world and in ourselves. Sin distorts that image and likeness, causing us to be deformed. However, we are never totally lost because we have the possibility for conversion and reconciliation.
Everyone whom we meet bears the image of the Creator God. Do we treat all those whom we encounter with the dignity and respect accorded to them as children of God? Those whom we like, those for whom we don’t necessarily care too much? Every human life – from conception to natural death – needs to be preserved and nurtured.
In his inaugural homily on April 24, 2005, our Pontiff Emeritus, Benedict XVI said: “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.” Do we act as if everyone whom we encounter is Christ?
Second, I would like to propose that the Catholic teaching on the four last things – death, judgment, heaven and hell – needs to be remembered. Each of us will face three of those four last things. Which will it be?
We as Christians need to recall that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. This life will pass away, and our true home is in union with Jesus, enjoying the beatific vision of the Lord. Do we act in our daily lives like we are meant for our true homeland? Do we act as if there are consequences for the actions we perform in this life that might have eternal effects? Can we recognize the way to life eternal?
Not Journeying Alone
Third, I would hold that we need to realize that we are not in this Christian journey alone. We are part of something much greater than ourselves. We are part of the Mystical Body of Christ, and we bear, as Vatican II reminds us, the joy and hope, the griefs and anxieties of all in the world (Gaudium et Spes 1). We are not in this Christian venture alone; we walk toward salvation with the Church, visible and invisible.
Father Barron is correct: Christianity is, above all else, a way of seeing. It is a way of living, a manner of existence that has to have concrete effects on the choices we make in our daily lives. It has to go beyond the basic Sunday worship (essential as it is) and must transcend into our everyday living. All should be able to know we are Catholic Christians not by our preaching, but by our actions.[hr]
Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Ephesians 5: 8-14
John 9: 1-41 or John 9: 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38[hr]
Father John Cush is a priest assigned to doctoral studies in fundamental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy.