\u201cThe Miracle Worker,\u201d<\/a> which told the story of how a child who was deaf, blind and mute came to connect with the world through her teacher, and learned to communicate from a well of water in her backyard. <\/p>\n It remains a beautiful story of isolation — and connection. In today\u2019s gospel, we encounter another story of isolation and connection, and meet the original Miracle Worker \u2013who gave the blessing of sight to a man born blind. It is also a story of devotion and love \u2013 Christ\u2019s compassion for an outcast. In this episode from John\u2019s gospel, the God who created man from the clay of the ground uses that same clay to give him a new life. Christ\u2019s touch reveals to him the world. And out of the grit and mud, he receives clarity, and vision. <\/p>\n
He is given light. <\/p>\n
In His first act of creation, from Genesis, God said, \u201clet there be light.\u201d And here, in this gospel, God — in effect — says it again. He creates for this man light. He offers him the gift of seeing. The gift of belief. Of hope. <\/p>\n
One of the things that\u2019s unusual about this miracle is that it doesn\u2019t end when the healing is complete. Usually, Jesus heals someone, and that person disappears and is never heard from again. But not this time. Here, there is more to the story. There are scenes with the blind man\u2019s parents, and the Pharisees. And, in an unusual twist, Jesus has a second encounter with man he healed. <\/p>\n
What this says to us is that the healing touch of Christ isn\u2019t the end of the story \u2013 for the man in the gospel, or for the rest of us. Christ\u2019s relationship with us continues past that first transformative encounter. He seeks us out, in our confusion and bewilderment, and guides us, gently, to understanding. \u201cOne thing I know,\u201d the healed man says, \u201cis that I was blind and now I see.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the words of the great hymn, he has experienced Amazing Grace. <\/p>\n
It is a grace all of us yearn for \u2013 and that our RCIA candidates, joining us at this mass, will experience in a special way when they are fully initiated into the faith at Easter. They will know light as never before. <\/p>\n
In the glow of the resurrection, at that beautiful moment, the Exultet reminds us, \u201cdarkness vanishes forever.\u201d <\/p>\n
But before that celebration, these days of Lent ask us to pray about the shadows haunting our own lives. The gray areas of sin. The clouded corners in our hearts. <\/p>\n
And so we pray that God will whisper the great words that sparked creation, and ignited the universe: \u201cLet there be light.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the hearts of those of us who are alienated, or angry\u2026let there be light.<\/p>\n
In the lives of those who are seeking God, and seeking Christ\u2026let there be light.<\/p>\n
In those who feel desperate or depressed\u2026because of a lost job, or a foreclosed home, or a heart that is heavy with anxiety\u2026let there be light.<\/p>\n
In the way we treat those around us\u2026our friends, our neighbors, even our enemies\u2026let there be light. <\/p>\n
There are many kinds of blindness \u2013 spiritual and physical. <\/p>\n
And so we pray to God, very simply, to open our eyes. <\/p>\n
Helen Keller was never able to see or hear. But she learned to communicate with the world, to make connections and associations that showed the power of the human imagination. She became a witness to the possibilities of even a limited life. <\/p>\n
In our own limitations, we pray that we, too, may be given the grace to live in possibility \u2013 and that Christ the Miracle Worker will continue to work miracles in each of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you cross Queens Boulevard and head down 112th Street, you\u2019ll pass a Reform temple, the Temple Sinai, a modern building with a small plaque by the front door. The plaque commemorates a piece of Forest Hills history: on that site once stood the home of one of the most celebrated women in America: Helen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Most of us know about Helen Keller from the play or movie, \u201cThe Miracle Worker,\u201d<\/a> which told the story of how a child who was deaf, blind and mute came to connect with the world through her teacher, and learned to communicate from a well of water in her backyard. <\/p>\n