St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Sunday of the Blind Man

Since the spiritual eyes of my soul are blind and sightless, I come to Thee, O Christ, as did the man born blind. And in repentance I cry to Thee: Thou art the most radiant Light of those in darkness. (Kontakion at Matins)

On this last Sunday of the Paschal season, the Church calls all to turn to Christ, to confess the faith of the one who was born blind and, like him, to worship the Lord. For we too have been blinded from our youth by our sins, and our hard hearts have preferred darkness to light. This is why the Paschal season is so important for us: by means of the Resurrection our eyes are being opened, the Light of Christ shines into our hearts, all that is ignorant and dark and despairing is banished, and we are raised up to the knowledge of God, life in Christ, a life filled with the transforming power of faith, hope and love.

This Sunday also touches on a painfully familiar question: who is to blame? The disciples believe that when bad things happen it must be that someone has somehow done something wrong. Is it the blind man himself who did something wrong? Are his parents to blame? Someone must have done something very bad indeed. They ask: whose sin has resulted in this blindness? The Pharisees feel this strongly too. To them misfortune is the consequence of sinful, blameworthy actions. They pass judgement on the blind man - you are a sinner through and through, since you were born - and they are quick to judge Jesus too - we know that this man is a sinner. They respond to suffering by heaping on even more suffering and humiliation.

It is a very human and ancient response to see affliction as the fruit of some hidden guilt. I'm sure we probably all often think about misfortune - the misfortune of others, our own misfortune - in just this very way. Someone must be guilty of something. Someone somewhere must be to blame. In this story, our Lord contradicts this kind of thinking. Jesus says: neither the blind man nor his parents sinned. His blindness is not a punishment, nor is it a consequence of someone doing something wrong. Whatever it is, his blindness is an opportunity for grace. Thus instead of assigning guilt and shame, the Lord is kind and offers a miracle of healing and forgiveness, a gift of reconciliation, a new life.

May we not be too hasty to blame, and even when something is clearly a consequence of certain actions, not to condemn but to help.

~ Fr. Andrew Morbey

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