Jn 9:1-41 (9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38)
1As [Jesus] passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 6He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, 7and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
8His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.”
13They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. 14Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” 16So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” [But] others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
34They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” 38He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
How can a sinful man do such signs? We sometimes see the evil and the bad things that happen in this world as God’s punishment for our sinfulness. AIDS, some say, is a punishment for our sexual promiscuity. Recession is a curse from God for our materialism.
No, please! We do not have a punisher or a strict policeman as God. The lesson is simple, I believe. God can speak to us even in the bad things that happen to us. Through AIDS, God may be reminding us to be faithful and to respect our sexuality. In global warming, God may be warning us to take better care of our world; it is the only one we have. In times of recession, God could be shouting at us to go back to the basics and skip the luxuries. Evil does not come from God. But God redeems suffering rather than rescues us from it. When bad things happen, God uses even those unwelcome events to remind us of his love and presence, and our need for him.