Seeing with God's Vision

Fourth Sunday of Lent–Second Scrutiny 

In 2009 I was driving back from St. John parish in Fenton, where I was assigned as a deacon, to Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.  It was a Fall night, and it was raining fairly steadily.  I pulled onto M-10, what most Michiganders who are familiar with Detroit call the Lodge.  I was driving 60 mph, which was still slower than 99% of the traffic, which was going at least 65 mph in the 55 mph zone, but I was having a hard time seeing the stripes that divided one lane from another.  I made it home safely, but I knew something was wrong with my eyes.

I didn’t have vision insurance, though, so I was nervous about how much getting my eyes checked was going to cost.  My optometrist was very kind, and gave me a great deal on the eye exam.  During that exam, she put the big machine in front of my eyes to read the chart with the letters on it.  As she started to change the lenses, I realized how poor my vision had been.  My vision is not horrible (I’m near sighted), but as soon as she put my prescription up on that machine, everything was much clearer.

We need an occasional eye exam for our souls.  The eyes of our souls can sometimes lose their original power, and sometimes we need the lenses of Jesus so that we can see clearly.  Otherwise our eyes get worse, and might even become blind.  This Gospel that we heard today, along with the first reading especially, reminds us that we do not always see as God sees.  What Samuel saw as the winner was not God’s choice for the king of Israel.  What the disciples saw as the result of sin was what Jesus said would bring glory to God, and was not due to a moral issue in the man born blind.  In both of those readings, God gave an eye exam, and helped Samuel and the disciples realize how their vision was off.

What do we see when we see a person walking down the street with dirty clothes, maybe with bags full of cans, digging through trash, or asking for some money?  Do we see a beggar, maybe someone who has mental illness issues, a druggie, a drunk, or do we see Jesus?  If we do not see Jesus, then we do not have 20/20 spiritual vision.  Yes, that person might have a mental illness.  Yes, that person might be a drunk or addicted to heroin.  But that is still a person, made in the image and likeness of God, a beloved child of God, one of the least of the brothers of Jesus, with whom Jesus associates.

I come from a pretty sheltered life.  My family was never rich, but we never wanted for anything.  We didn’t have extravagant vacations every year, but we got to enjoy the State Parks of Michigan, and occasionally did take a trip down to Florida.  It is sometimes a challenge for me to put myself in the shoes of those who have nothing and who struggle each day.  I have to strain to see Jesus, and many times I have missed Him in the people I see.  One of the great blessings of being a chaplain for Adrian Fire Department, and working with Adrian Police Department and the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department is the presence I can give to those who work to protect our city and county.  But another blessing is that I have more opportunities to see Jesus in the people to whom we respond, many of whom I would never see or encounter.  

Samuel chose, by God’s grace, a king for Israel in the first reading.  Tuesday, as residents of the State of Michigan, we have the opportunity to help shape our election in November for President of the United States.  It’s not my job, and I won’t do so, to tell you for whom to vote.  The Catholic Church does not endorse a particular party or a particular candidate.  We will work with anyone, as we have for 2,000 years.  But I do want to challenge all of us about whether or not we are voting (which is very important and a civic and moral duty) with the eyes of God.  When we look at our favorite candidate, do we see them with the eyes of God?  I doubt God has a favorite candidate, and I’m sure He’s not endorsing anyone.  But do we examine each person, each a child of God and made in His image, in the light of divine revelation, so that we choose a person who protects all human life, in the womb, on the streets, in the nursing home; who does not spread fear and hatred of different classes of people, ethnicities, jobs; who respects and welcomes people of all faiths, but acts in accordance with the truth, even when unpopular; who works against discrimination of people with homosexual attractions but also understands that marriage, according to faith and reason, can only be between one man and one woman; who will build up the country in unity, rather than dividing us into different camps?

The way we see things determines how we interact with the world.  How are our eyes?  Do we see with the vision of God?