Matthew 5: 13-16

13You are the salt of the earth; if salt loses its taste, what is there left to give taste to it? There is
no more to be done with it, but throw it out of doors for men to tread it under foot.
14You are the light of the world; a city cannot be hidden if it is built on a mountain-top.
15A lamp is not lighted to be put away under a bushel measure; it is put on the lamp-stand, to
give light to all the people of the house;
16and your light must shine so brightly before men that they can see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Good for Nothing

This Gospel passage is also taken from the Chapter of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5), after
the Beatitudes. Although this excerpt might be a simple one, it really would not make a kick.
Allow me to use an example. A lazy person, even if there are motivations around him/her to
work, if he/she is not willing, will not do anything for his/her benefit. Or, for instance, a busted
tire, regardless of air blown into it, will release the air.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns those who are to embark on following Jesus. Granted that they
are to be sent for mission, he warns that if they lose the zeal for souls, the zeal of God’s love, they
are good for nothing and may be disposed. This is what the Lord means when salt loses taste and
light is hidden. Jesus is strong when He addresses the people that if they are to be witnesses to
the Gospel, they have to shine bright before people – to disturb the blandness and the darkness
is the world, or else people would not be attracted to them, and to God.

However, I would also like to add something to what Jesus said. Too much salt can cause bodily
damage; too much light can cause blindness. Just so, when we witness to Jesus, we must not
glorify ourselves, but God. Witnessing to the Gospel must bring glory to God, as well as bring
others to God, just like how the Jesuits pursue their motto, “For the greater glory of God and
salvation of man.”

(261 words)

Guide Question: Is my missionary spirit still burning for love of God and of others?
John 9: 1-41

1 And Jesus saw, as he passed on his way, a man who had been blind from his birth.
2 Whereupon his disciples asked him, Master, was this man guilty of sin, or was it his parents,
that he should have been born blind?✻
3 Neither he nor his parents were guilty, Jesus answered; it was so that God’s action might
declare itself in him.
4While daylight lasts, I must work in the service of him who sent me; the night is coming, when
there is no working any more.✻
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world’s light.
6 With that, he spat on the ground, and made clay with the spittle; then he spread the clay on
the man’s eyes,
7 and said to him, Away with thee, and wash in the pool of Siloe (a word which means, Sent out).
So he went and washed there, and came back with his sight restored.
8And now the neighbours, and those who had been accustomed to see him begging, began to
say, Is not this the man who used to sit here and beg? Some said, This is the man;
9and others, No, but he looks like him. And he told them, Yes, I am the man.
10How is it, then, they asked him, that thy eyes have been opened?
11He answered, A man called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes with it, and said to me,
Away with thee to the pool of Siloe and wash there. So I went there, and washed, and recovered
my sight.
12Where is he? they asked; and he said, I cannot tell.
13And they brought him before the Pharisees, this man who had once been blind.
14It was a sabbath day, you must know, when Jesus made clay and opened his eyes.
15And so the Pharisees in their turn asked him how he had recovered his sight. Why, he said, he
put clay on my eyes; and then I washed, and now I can see.
16Whereupon some of the Pharisees said, This man can be no messenger from God; he does not
observe the sabbath. Others asked, How can a man do miracles like this, and be a sinner? Thus
there was a division of opinion among them.
17And now they questioned the blind man again, What account dost thou give of him, that he
should thus have opened thy eyes? Why, he said, he must be a prophet.
18The Jews must send for the parents of the man who had recovered his sight, before they
would believe his story that he had been blind, and that he had had his sight restored to him.
19And they questioned them, Is this your son, who, you say, was born blind? How comes it,
then, that he is now able to see?
20His parents answered them, We can tell you that this is our son, and that he was blind when
he was born;
21we cannot tell how he is able to see now; we have no means of knowing who opened his eyes
for him. Ask the man himself; he is of age; let him tell you his own story.
22It was fear of the Jews that made his parents talk in this way; the Jews had by now come to an
agreement that anyone who acknowledged Jesus as the Christ should be forbidden the
synagogue;
23that was why his parents said, He is of age, ask him himself.
24So once more they summoned the man who had been blind. Give God the praise, they said;
this man, to our knowledge, is a sinner.
25Sinner or not, said the other, I cannot tell; all I know is that once I was blind, and now I can
see.
26Then they asked him over again, What was it he did to thee? By what means did he open thy
eyes?
27And he answered them, I have told you already, and you would not listen to me. Why must
you hear it over again? Would you too become his disciples?
28Upon this, they covered him with abuse; Keep his discipleship for thyself, we are disciples of
Moses.
29We know for certain that God spoke to Moses; we know nothing of this man, or whence he
comes.
30Why, the man answered, here is matter for astonishment; here is a man that comes you
cannot tell whence, and he has opened my eyes.
31And yet we know for certain that God does not answer the prayers of sinners, it is only when a
man is devout and does his will, that his prayer is answered.
32That a man should open the eyes of one born blind is something unheard of since the world
began.
33No, if this man did not come from God, he would have no powers at all.
34What, they answered, are we to have lessons from thee, all steeped in sin from thy birth? And
they cast him out from their presence.
35When Jesus heard that they had so cast him out, he went to find him, and asked him, Dost
thou believe in the Son of God?✻
36Tell me who he is, Lord, he answered, so that I can believe in him.
37He is one whom thou hast seen, Jesus told him. It is he who is speaking to thee.
38Then he said, I do believe, Lord, and fell down to worship him.
39Hereupon Jesus said, I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that
those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind.✻
40Some of the Pharisees heard this, such as were in his company, and they asked him, Are we
blind too?
41If you were blind, Jesus told them, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, We can
see clearly, that you cannot be rid of your guilt.

Blind Spots

Drivers have these things called blindspots, where they cannot see what their mirrors do not
reflect. Figuratively, these are areas where people are uninformed or prejudiced. Now, what does
this have to do with our Gospel? Consider this statement: spiritual blindness is worse than
physical blindness.

Pharisees have a blind spot towards social and religious outcasts. They developed a superiority
complex over them, citing ritual purity and over-interpretation of Jewish laws. That was the
reason behind judging the man born blind and the succeeding miracle of Jesus, evaluated as
unlawful, especially because it was done on Sabbath.

But Jesus rebutted them, saying that they have been blinded by their arrogance. As Jesus
identifies Himself as “Light of the world,” His mission is to give sight to the blind, literally and
figuratively, especially those blinded by ignorance or conceit. Jesus knew the Pharisees were
blind is some way other than physical.

Today’s Gospel challenges us, in this season of Lent, to beg for the graces to: (a) have the faith of
the man born blind, to ask for vision, that we may truly gain light from the Light of the World,
and see the wonderful things God has made; and (b) to remove the blinders and fix the blind
spots that hinder us from seeing the concerns of our neighbors, especially those who are in need
of seeing Jesus.

(228 words)

Guide Question: Do I see those who wish to see Jesus, yet instead, put a blind eye on them?