Sunday, March 02, 2008 Lagura: Seeing in the light of Christ By Fr. Flor Lagura, SVD In the service of the word
SHE was the woman many a man would have wanted to marry and be the mother of his children. Unfortunately the husband had a vile temper and was prone to abuse. Moreover, he played around with other women.
An unforgiving mother-in-law-a veritable shrew--lived with them thus making her life miserable. Her biggest disappointment, however, were the children, notably the eldest. Intellectually gifted he got entrance to the best schools his parents’ money could buy entrance into. Yet he gravely disappointed his mother when he took in a live-in partner and sired a son out of wedlock. Yet this woman of great virtue saw everything with the eyes of faith and, gazing beyond her present condition, she looked towards the future walking all the while in the light of Christ.
The gospel tells us of a man who could not see, for he was born blind. To add to his bitter fate, people saw nothing but evil in his life even blaming his parents as they claimed that the parents’ sins led to the son’s blindness. Or he himself was steeped in sin, and for this he was punished.
Differently Jesus saw in this sad situation a golden opportunity for the goodness of God to shine through in all its glory. Thus, he healed the blind man, but in a very startling manner. No doctor would have thought of it! Mixing dirt with his saliva Jesus pasted the mix on the man’s eyes, and then ordered him to wash in Pool of Siloam (pool of ‘sent’!) Lo and behold, the blind man regained his sight.
Sadly, the Pharisees missed the point. The intricate legalisms of their religion unfortunately blinded these religious leaders as they miserably failed to see the miracle before their eyes. What they saw was the religious crime the Lord committed. He worked on a Sabbath! As Shakespeare says, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones!”
They only saw-apperceived is the word--as their fixed and warped mind-sets led them. In the case of the good mother in our introduction, her seeing events in her life by faith and her looking beyond this world enabled her to walk all the while in the light of Christ.
She received a bountiful reward, for shortly before his death, her once good-for-nothing husband-Patricius-turned to and was reconciled with God. Her son’s conversion was more remarkable: he put aside a sinful life, became a priest-later on was consecrated bishop of Northern Africa.
The world knows him as St. Augustine: one of the greatest minds of the Church. The woman who saw the good in him and, by the light of Christ, guided her family is St. Monica. “Jesus said, “It is for judgment that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight may become blind.” John 9:39
