4th Sunday of Lent: March 14/15, 2026

I know what you might be thinking, that was a long Gospel, and yes it was, we had a long one last Sunday, and get ready, a long one the next two Sundays.  And there is a lot packed into these long Gospels, like today things about sin, working on the Sabbath, Jesus’ power to forgive, and the constant questioning of the Pharisees which at times borders on harassment of Jesus.

But at the heart of the story we heard today is one concept, that of BLINDNESS, and so we could reflect on all the ways we might be blind, all the ways we fail to see as God sees.

But I want to go where I have never gone before, to a blindness that is hardly ever mentioned, even though Jesus points it out rather bluntly at the end of this Gospel when he confronts the Pharisees. 

Maybe we avoid it because we don’t like to admit it.  Maybe we avoid it because it will put us in a bad light.  Maybe it’s because it’s the easiest type of blindness to overlook.  Or maybe it’s simply, like me, we’ve just never thought about it before.

And this is OUR OWN BLINDNESS, that is we are often blind to the fact that we are blind.  This happens when we think everyone else's eyesight  is off, but we see things as they are with perfect 20/20 vision, and why can’t everybody see things the way we see them. . .

Jesus knew many of the Pharisees were guilty of this, and made a point of calling them out every chance he got:  such as today when they asked: “surely we are not also blind, are we?”

And quite possibly, this is one of the few things (or maybe the only thing) Jesus has a major problem with, this is the blindness that results in us thinking that our opinions are superior to everyone else’s.

Or that we are somehow better than other people.

Or that we know more.

Or that we are more faithful - or more “authentic” Catholics because we do this or that.

Or that God loves us more - and not THEM.

Or that our way is always the best way.

Or that the way we see or think about a particular situation is the right way or the ONLY way.

Put simply, being blind to the fact that we are blind, is a kind of self-righteousness that says to the world “I see just fine”.  It’s every one else who is blind.  Therefore I am not someone that needs to change, but everybody else does.

When we are talking about physical blindness, it’s easy to see the danger in refusing to believe our eyesight is failing.  How many young people fight getting glasses even though their school work is suffering?  I see just fine, they say.  Or how many older people continue to drive even though they can barely make out the lane they’re driving in?  I see just fine, they say.

And heaven forbid a surgeon or bus driver or pilot who refuses to admit that her or his eyesight is beginning to fail, we know that would be a disaster waiting to happen.  But this failure of eyesight happens in our spiritual life, too.   

Jesus is incredibly forgiving toward many of the sins we find hard to forgive. He really doesn’t get angry toward thieves or adulterers or tax collectors or the Romans or almost any other group. In fact, Jesus shows a tremendous amount of compassion toward these people, reaching out to them, counseling them, healing them, and embracing them.  On the other hand, Jesus’ strongest language he saves for one particular group, the people who are convinced of their own goodness, the people who, in a very real sense, are blind to their own blindness.  He calls them hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and those who walk in darkness.

And so this Lent, as we use this time to take a hard look at where we are in our relationship with Jesus, whether or not we give our whole hearts to the Lord, let’s take a hard look at the ways we have failed to love, the ways we have held part of our hearts back from God instead of giving God our whole heart.

As we are looking at our sins, let’s make sure to include the very thing that often brings about the very sins we are confessing. Let’s look at our attitudes and prejudices and our view of others and the world.  Maybe it will help if we ask ourselves a few probing questions:

• What person or persons am I looking at in the wrong way?

• What issue or issues do I refuse to consider that there are other points of view, or am I convinced I am 100% right and every else is ALWAYS 100% wrong.

• Do I feel the need to win EVERY argument, the need to have people come around to my point of view, without ever considering their point of view, or that there is EVEN another point of view??

• How easy is it for us to say, I was wrong?  OR I can understand where you are coming from.  OR, please forgive me?

• Do I feel superior to others - and if so, why?

• In what areas of my life do I need a big dose of humility?

• And what in me needs to change in order to make my life, my family, my parish, my school, my community, and the world, a better place?

Samuel in the first reading, with God’s help, saw something in David which no one else could see. May we, with God’s help, see things in each other that we’ve never seen before, see the things that God sees in that person. But we will never be able to do this if we refuse to admit that we are blind in the first place, and fail to ask Christ to cure us of our blindness.