Second Scrutiny - Man born Blind

This past Sunday in Catholic parishes throughout the world the Church celebrated the second scrutiny with the elect – in our parish we have five young people who are the elect – they will celebrate Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion at the Easter Vigil.  
A scrutiny is a prayer asking God to strengthen the elect and to heal any weakness or desire to sin.  Before we began Mass - I invited people to reflect in silence on the gift of their faith and how God is calling us to witness to our faith in our homes and community...

In the Scriptures we proclaimed Sunday - from Year A because we had catechumens - contained wonderful images:  

• To be blind - to be able to see: The one blind now sees
• Those with sight are really the ones blind 

I pondered this week the insights of Jerry Galipeau from our parish mission: that my baptism & confirmation are not simply events of the past – but enliven my present reality. That I need to "work out" my experience of nourishment at the Eucharist, lest I become spiritually obese. How are we in a sense blind - when we are stuck "seeing" things only from 1 perspective. I have been thinking about how everyone is ready to offer advice to the cardinals entering the conclave. from their own perspective... especially those looking at the faults of the church.

Let's consider stained glass windows…
They are held together by metallic joints which block the sun’s rays. If you focus only on those joints, you will miss the beauty of the windows. The Church has certainly known dark fault lines that have scarred the beauty of its message - The message of Christ.

We are aware that not all in the Church is as it should be: the personal limitations and even the crimes of Church leaders have at times impeded the faith journey of fellow believers. And the accumulation of centuries of habit and custom can block out the glorious vision Christ proclaims.  Saint Paul: reminds us "We hold a treasure in earthen vessels."

Yet – as undeniably present as those dark lines are, what of the beauty of the stained glass? If we view the Church as a movement - the "raison d'etre"- the cause of the Church is the proclamation of the Reign of God, which is Justice, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit.

This Reign was embodied in Christ’s own life: his living, ministry, miracles - like the one in the Gospel Sunday - and in his passion, death and Resurrection which we are preparing for in 2 weeks time...  This Spirit continues to move in all of us - his followers: from the smallest of children to Cardinals included!That's the new sight – the new insight I seek this Lent as I prepare to renew my Baptismal  promises at Easter!