St John the Evangelist Parish

March 30, 2025

Fourth Sunday of Lent

A man looking a bit downtrodden approached me as I filled my car’s gas tank. He asked, “May I share with you my testimony about how good God is?” “OK,” I skeptically answered. He went on to tell me that he had been an alcoholic and drug addict, and that God had healed him; now he was four years sober. He said, “I didn’t deserve it, but now I’m a different person. God is so good! Have a terrific Tuesday!” A few minutes later, as I drove away, I saw him smiling and handing a homeless person some money. I was confronted with a choice: either he was a total fraud, or God had changed him. Something had happened to him, and it didn’t seem fake. Maybe it was God.

When Jesus heals the man born blind, the man becomes a challenge to everyone who meets him. They must decide. Is he the same blind person who they knew before? Who healed him and how? And what is the status of the one who can heal such infirmities? We shouldn’t be surprised at the storm of doubt, hatred, and animosity that swirls around the healed man — so it often goes when Jesus heals someone, even to this day.

Like we often do, the religious leaders confronting the healed man declare that God is not at work. They ask with mocking superiority and dismissive disdain, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” (John 9:34). And they cast him out. When Jesus clearly works in our lives, in us or around us, we should accept it and give praise and thanks for this wonderful manifestation of his goodness.

Lenten challenge: Think of one way the Lord has healed you. Perhaps he healed a form of selfishness, a physical ailment, or something else. This week, find a person to whom you can share that testimony, and share it. Don’t worry if they don’t accept it was God who did it.