Last week we saw how Jesus meets people where they are and tries to connect with them to bring them closer to God. He’s never stopped doing this. He’s still trying to do it today, through your daily encounters with other people.
Then you mess it up with your stupid ideas about those other people and whether they really matter or not. Too often you decide they don’t, and Jesus loses yet another opportunity.
Next time you’re complaining about how the world rejects Jesus and the church, you might like to consider your role in this. The only thing that might really be stopping the world from being evangelised is you.
This week’s gospel continues this theme, this time in a way so blindingly (pun intended) obvious that anyone can see it. It’s about literally not being able to see God at work in the world, even when it’s right under your nose and yelling in your face.
Prejudice is literally pre-judging. You arrive at a fixed idea, sometimes based on almost no information, and often sifted first to pick out the bits you don’t like. It’s a normal part of being a fallen human being; we all engage in it. But just think of all the opportunities Jesus misses when you give in to it.
In the gospel, the Pharisees have already decided that Jesus is not the Messiah. Jesus ticks all the messianic boxes. He’s doing miracles. He’s teaching and preaching. He’s telling people he’s the Messiah. He’s even talking about his divine origin.
But he’s not one of the scribes or Pharisees, and they don’t know his background or where he got his theology degree. And they don’t like him because he points out inconsistencies in their own behaviour that they’d rather ignore.
It doesn’t matter what Jesus says or does; they’ve made up their minds. So even when he heals a man born blind, right in front of everyone, they set to work picking apart the alleged miracle.
Was this man even born blind? Are you sure? Let’s ask his parents and insult them while we’re at it. Then when the healed man refuses to see that he’s just a patsy for mysterious forces trying to disrupt the status quo, we’ll run him out of town.
Move the Pharisees forward a couple of thousand years, and they’d write the whole thing off as AI-generated and fake news. Look at the scorn and derision with which they treat the healed man, his parents, and Jesus.
They feel entitled to insult all these insignificant little people who don’t share their world view (mostly because they just saw a miracle happen with their own eyes). When you are so invested in being right that you cannot see or believe any evidence that you are wrong, you are in real trouble.
So this week, examine yourself. How are your prejudices – your pre-judgements – blocking the way of the Lord that you should be trying to clear? Are they holding you back from evangelising the world where you live and work and worship?
Do you let your church politics get in the way of connecting with other Catholics or non-Catholics? Are you so married to a particular version of the Mass that you use it to decide whether people deserve your respect or contempt?
Are you one of those Catholics who only likes to be with your own kind, so you won’t ever be in danger of having your errors corrected? Have you already decided that the world is too sinful to bother with, and that you’re better off just stocking up on the tinned beans and ammunition?
None of these things are what Jesus models for us in the gospels. None of this is what he asked us to do. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. Jesus does good wherever and whenever he can. He is always, always trying to find common ground.
He’s always willing to engage courteously with people who doubt him and challenge him. He yearns to connect with individual souls and call them to conversion of heart. This includes his conversation with Pontius Pilate at his trial. And even on the cross, Jesus welcomes a convicted thief into the kingdom.
The only ones who get a sharp response from him are Pharisees who try “gotcha” questions. But that’s because they’re not interested in listening; they’re interested in winning.
This week in Lent, look honestly at how your prejudices are holding you back from bringing Jesus to others. And perhaps try to let Jesus use you to open doors, rather than slam them shut.
