By Madeline Larson

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ~ John 9:5

This painting reflects a reality that we usually ignore: Christ healing us often hurts. His healing is not always a beautiful, peaceful, clean process. Sometimes it takes the Lord’s spit, mud, and sticking His fingers into the brokenness to bring transformation and change. 

Lent is a beautiful time to really experience the pain of transformation through the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving practices which we take up. We must embrace the pain and suffering of this life, knowing that we can allow it to purify us and bring us closer to God. 

Living stuck in our own brokenness

The blind man in today’s Gospel had lived his whole life knowing his deficiencies, but had probably learned to accept them. He was used to being blind and he simply lived in this deficiency, never expecting anything to be different. We often do the same, getting stuck within our ways that are broken. Living in brokenness can be easier than the fear and struggle of changing, even if we know it is something good for us. 

In the Gospel, the blind man does not even ask Jesus to be healed. We often can be the same way, not even bothering to ask the Lord for healing anymore. Our weaknesses and struggles seem like such a part of ourselves that we cannot imagine what we would look like without them. Then why did the Lord heal the man? Because the Lord desires to heal and show us the light. 

“I am the light of the world” (John 9:5)

Jesus identifies that this man was born blind just so God could be glorified and made present through this miracle. The blindness of this man is a symbol of the blindness of the souls of the whole human race. We are in the dark without Our Lord leading the way to all that is good, true, and beautiful. 

This is the great gift of Christ coming into this world, dying for us on the cross, and raising us all up to new life with Him. He wanted to redeem us, to restore us to the newness of life and glory that was experienced in the garden. We have free will to choose sin, but God is more powerful than our sin and brokenness. He can see every possibility of our lives and the brokenness so inherent in us as humans and bring good out of it. 

Can we see our brokenness, blindness, and sin as opportunities for the Lord to be glorified and God to be made present? This is the invitation this Lent and for the rest of our lives as Christians, to be proud of our brokenness and weakness, allowing the Lord to move in the world. We must accept the painful healing of God to transform us, change us, and bring us to greater unification with the will and plan of God. We must be like the blind man, healed and boldly saying, “Lord, I believe.”

Prayer:

Lord, help me to embrace the painful healing that you desire to go through with me this Lent. May my weakness, sin, and blindness be the means for You to be glorified and contribute to the sanctification of the entire world.

Call to Action:

How have you experienced pain this Lent? Reflect on how this pain is evidence of the Lord’s presence and our desire to glorify God.

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