主題：心盲
今天，讓我們從瞎子的角度，默想福音的教訓。
可是，有一種精神上的痛苦，從他開明悟以來，就不停折磨著他。人是一種好奇的動物，天生喜歡問「為甚麼？」。瞎眼既是與生俱來，胎生瞎子根本不知道瞎眼是怎麼一回事，直到其他人告訴他，或者引領他的手接觸到一些其他人看見，而他看不到的事物和顏色。原來這就是瞎眼！這經驗是痛苦的，因為是一生的痛苦，因為胎生瞎眼當代是不治之症（若9:32）。很自然，這痛苦催逼他尋找答案，以減輕這份痛苦。瞎子跟著會問，為甚麼他是瞎眼的。問了十多年，相信已經有人告訴他，疾病是天主的懲罰，所以他生來瞎眼，是天主的懲罰。可能他相信了這個答案一段時間。之後，他便會開始質疑這答案，繼續問為甚麼天主要懲罰他？他犯過甚麼罪，惹來天主的懲罰？可能他曾想過不是自己的罪，而是父母遺下的罪孽，但他沒法肯定。他找不到令自己滿意的答案，一直被罪惡感折磨，直到今天他遇上了耶穌。耶穌的說話，的確是福音，解除了瞎子多年來的心結。竟然有人在他面前說：「不是他犯了罪，也不是他的父母，而是為叫天主的工作，在他身上顯揚出來。」（9:3）他的心靈真是如釋重負！從此，他可以快快樂樂地繼續盲下去，顯揚天主的工作了。
當然，天主的工作，何止要他心靈得到釋放。天主的工作，要進一步使他看見這個世界！於是耶穌動手抹他的眼睛，並吩咐瞎子完成他開始了的工程，派遣他去「被派遣的」水池洗眼（9:7）！我們不知道是瞎子自己去，還是有人帶他去，還是有人戲弄他，拖他去。無論如何，他按照耶穌的指示去做，「回來就看見了」（9:7）。瞎子看見第一批的人，就是平時施捨給他的人。但為甚麼要爭論呢？明明是我，還有另一個瞎眼的乞丐嗎？好像沒有吧。真希望親眼看見耶穌，親自感謝耶穌使他看見。本來以為群眾帶他去見耶穌，卻把他帶去見另一班人，又再複述一次看見的過程，不知為甚麼又起爭論。為甚麼能看見的人喜歡爭論，認為自己是對，別人是錯呢？瞎子得見光明的過程，還有甚麼值得爭論嗎？竟然有。有人懷疑瞎子並非瞎子！要找他的父母來盤問！其實這邏輯是錯的。倘若瞎子可以是假扮的，那些人憑甚麼肯定瞎子的父母真是他的父母呢？明明是我，明明我是胎生的瞎子，還可以假的嗎？
瞎子第一次看見自己的父母，本來是很快樂，很令人感動的事。可是，就在這第一次，他被父母公開遺棄了！這個天主要他看見的世界，竟然是如此可怕的。有一股勢力，可以迫使做父母的，不敢公開承認自己與親生子女的關係。現在的瞎子，已舉目無親了。不過，還有耶穌！這班人想迫瞎子同意耶穌是罪人，但耶穌對瞎子有恩。所以，瞎子並沒有屈服，據理力爭，為耶穌辯護。瞎子素來不會看人的嘴臉，不懂得顧忌權貴，結果令法利塞人理屈，忿然把他趕出會堂。以後人海茫茫，到那裡可以找到耶穌呢？不用愁！耶穌是會主動找你的！
瞎子的故事，有幾點值得我們反省。
第二，瞎子接受真理，相信耶穌，不是出於推理，而是出於親身的經驗。福音的眾多故事，包括今天的瞎子故事，告訴我們耶穌會主動尋找我們。在座我們每個人，一定有個別不同的經驗，使我們成為天主教徒，享受成為天主子女的恩寵。瞎子為耶穌的作證，並不是甚麼英雄，他祗是分享自己得救蒙恩的經驗。這個經驗，你有，我有，人人都有，人人不同，是值得分享，擴闊視野，令人讚美天主拯救的多姿多采之處。
最後，耶穌並沒有當場令瞎子看見，而是指示他做餘下的步驟。所以，按照耶穌的指示去做，就是做天主的工作；而做天主的工作，對我們絕對有益。那麼，有甚麼事物會令我們不去做耶穌指示的工作，對我們有益的工作呢？今天執事穿的祭衣不是四旬期慣用的紫色，而是玫瑰紅色。因為今天是「喜樂主日」，表示四旬期已過了一半，還有三個星期就是復活節了！
福音沒有說明瞎子的歲數，祗說「他成年了」（若9:21）。即是說，他已超過二十歲。二十年來在黑暗中生活的滋味，不是我們可以想像到的。瞎子可以做甚麼維生呢？不出所料，福音說瞎子行乞討飯為生（9:8）。瞎眼非常吃虧，因為他不能保護自身及財物的安全，縱使某天乞到很多金錢，也沒有能力保管，一定會被人偷去。所以，瞎子最懂得「天主經」的教導，全心信賴天主，祗求一天的用糧就滿足了。他們吃虧的第二方面，就是他們經常成為別人戲弄的對象。所以，梅瑟所立的法律中，就有禁止「將障礙物放在瞎子面前。」（肋19:14）的條文。瞎子的苦況，真是祗有瞎子纔明白。但值得安慰的，瞎眼的乞丐比較其他的乞丐有一個「好處」，最少他看不見別人的嘴臉，不用仰人鼻息，心裡好過一點。
第一，問「為甚麼」是應該的，因為我們的信仰不是迷信，而是合乎理性的。不過，人接受或拒絕真理，並不是出於理性。法利塞人素來在群眾中享有的地位，被耶穌動搖了，於是對耶穌產生偏見。於是在真理前，拒絕了真理，成為有眼無珠的瞎子。我們不要奇怪或者責怪他們為何與耶穌作對。今天的社會，不也是充斥著很多這樣的人嗎？利益所在，他們不惜歪曲事實，虛假宣傳，甚至否定事實。法利塞人曾捍衛猶太人是天主選民的身份，是民族英雄。今天落得如此收場，真令人惋惜。
各位兄弟姊妹，在繼續為復活節做準備之前，是時候檢討過去三個星期的齋戒、祈禱和施捨的功夫做得怎樣了。
天主保祐！
The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A)
Theme: Spiritual Blindness
Today, let us meditate from the perspective of the born blind.
But there is a spiritual suffering torturing him ever since he began understanding. Man is a curious animal, always asking why's. Being born blind, this beggar did not know what blindness was until others told them, or made his hands touch things or colours which others saw and he was unable to see. This is blindness! This experience was painful because it would be life-long. It was incurable at that time. (John 9:32) Naturally, this pain urged him to seek answers to relieve the pain. He would ask why he was born blind. After asking for ten odd years, somebody must have told him that illness was a punishment from God. His being born blind was God's punishment. Probably he believed this explanation for a while. Then, he might start questioning that answer and continue to ask why God punished him. What sins had he committed to deserve this punishment? Perhaps it crossed his mind that it might not be his sins but his parents'. He was not sure. He could not find a satisfactory answer and he had been tortured by a sense of guilt until he met Jesus. Jesus' word is truly good news. It unknotted his burden. Somebody spoke in front of him, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him" (9:3). His heart and soul were relieved. From now on, he would continue to be blind happily, manifesting the works of God!
Of course, God's works are more than relieving the souls. God's works would make him see this world! Thus, Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and told him to continue the work he had started, sent him to the Pool of the Sent to wash his eyes (9:7)! We do not know whether the blind man went himself, or led by somebody or being made fun of and dragged there. No matter what, he followed Jesus' instruction "and came back seeing" (9:7). The first batch of people he saw were those who had seen him before as a beggar. But why did they argue? It was me! Was there another blind beggar? He really wanted to see Jesus and thank him in person. The beggar thought that the crowd were bringing him to see Jesus only to find that it was another group of people. He repeated his healing story once more and they started arguing. Why did the non-blind like arguing, thinking that they were right and the others were wrong? Was there anything worth arguing about his healing? To his surprise, there was! Some people even questioned his being born blind and wanted to interrogate his parents! This was illogical. If he faked blindness, what made them so sure that the parents they summoned were really his parents? It was me. I was born blind. Could I fake this?
It was supposed to be a happy and touching moment for him to see his parents for the first time. However, he was openly forsaken by his parents in this first encounter! The world God made him see turned out to be such a terrible place. There was some evil forcing parents to openly deny their relationships with their children. Now, this blind man had no family members. But he had Jesus. This group of men wanted to force him to declare that Jesus was a sinner. But Jesus had cured his blindness. Thus, this blind man did not bend. He defended Jesus with evidence. He had never given people face and avoided offending authority. Consequently, the Pharisees failed to rebuke him and angrily drove him away. Now, where could he go to find Jesus in this wide wide world? Don't worry! Jesus took the initiative to seek him!
In this story of the born blind, there are a few points which are worth reflecting.
Secondly, the blind did not accept the truth and believe in Jesus out of logical reasoning but of personal experience. Many stories in the gospels, including this story of the born blind, tell us that Jesus went out to seek us. All of us must have gone through different experiences to become Catholics, to enjoy the grace of becoming God's children. This blind man who bore witness for Jesus was not a hero. He only shared his redemption experience. You and me, everybody has such experiences. These experiences are worth sharing to expand our vision, making people praise God for the variety of ways He redeems us.
Lastly, Jesus did not cure the blind man on the spot but instructed him to perform the remaining steps. Thus, following Jesus' instruction is to do God's works and doing God's works does us good. Thus what would prevent us from following Jesus' instructions, doing works that benefit us? Today, my vestment is not the usual Lenten colour of purple but rose colour. It is because today is the Lætare Sunday. That means half of the Lent season is passed. There remain three more weeks before Easter!
The gospel does not tell us the age of the blind, only says, "He is of age." (John 9:21) That means he was over 20 years old. It is difficult to imagine his suffering of more than 20 years. What could he do for a living? As expected, he begged. (9:8) Blindness is a special disadvantage because he could not protect his own safety and possession. Even if he was lucky enough to be given more coins than usual in one day, he did not have the ability to keep them safe. The coins would be easily stolen. Thus, the blind know the Lord's Prayer well. They totally rely on God and are happy to ask only for their daily bread. The second disadvantage was that they were always made fun of. That was why Moses stipulated in the law to forbid people to "put a stumbling block before the blind." (Leviticus 19:14) Only the blind know their own plights. But a blind has one advantage over the other beggars. They do not see the faces of other people. They don't need to please them. They feel better.
First of all, we should ask why's because our faith is not superstitious. It is reasonable. But people do not accept or reject truth out of rationality. The Pharisees used to enjoying prestige among the people. But their status was shaken by Jesus. They held grudges against him. Thus, they rejected the truth in front of the Truth, thus making themselves the ‘seeing' blind. We should not be surprised or blamed them for going against Jesus. Aren't there a lot of such people in our society today? Clinging onto their benefits, people do not stop short of twisting facts, promulgating fake news and even denying reality point blank. The Pharisees were once heroes defending the Jewish identity of the Chosen People of God. It is a pity to see them fall.
Brethren, before we continue to prepare for Easter, it is time we evaluated how well we have fast, prayed and given alms in the last three weeks.
God bless.
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