Homily

In today’s Gospel Jesus cures two blind men. And as I was thinking about this, these two blind men, I remembered that when I was young my dear mother would often ask us questions about blindness. “Are you blind? Pick up those pieces of paper! —Are you blind? You’re spilling that milk everywhere.”

We don’t know how long the two men were blind. Was it from birth or was it the result of illness or accident? We don’t know. But we can be sure that because of this lack of sight they experienced the world in a different way than sighted people do. Not to see colors, or sunlight, or the expressions on people’s faces, or the possible danger that might be in your path. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to begin to realize how different the world might seem if we could not see.

But whether we can see or not, the truth is that we all see the world and our lives in this world in different ways. We see the world and our lives in different ways because of our experiences, our personalities, our individual judgments about persons and things, our wisdom or lack of wisdom, our education, our place in society and in our family life. There are many factors that enter into how we see our lives in this world as well as the lives of everyone else. This is a truth that Bishop Benedict has mentioned more than a few times. He says it is impossible to fully and completely understand another person because we can never fully and completely understand all the elements that come together to explain why he or she thinks or acts the way they do. And I suppose that is also true about ourselves as well. We can’t fully understand why we think this way, or at this way, or react this way so many times.

This is why it can be difficult to live together and to interact with one another—because we have difficulty sometimes in understanding how other people see the world. My mother did not think the living room floor should have little pieces of paper scattered upon it. We did not see it as a problem. There was a difference in understanding. But we were taught that mother’s good should become our own good or else we would see something that was not so good.

Now, when we are dealing with other people, as we have to do every day, we can’t sit around and try to understand every word or action they use according to their own individual situation. We do it to some degree. We know Tom is often worried, that Helen tends to see the darker side of every situation while Susan usually sees the brighter side. Hugh is a slow learner while Sharon is a more introverted person.

People we know, we have a certain amount of understanding of how they think and act. People we don’t know are more of a mystery, and because of our own makeup we either tend to view them in a more positive light, expecting good things, or a more negative light, being cautious about them in case they are not so good. We judge other people all the time to one degree or another, and we have to have some kind of judgment about the words and deeds of others or else we wouldn’t be able to live with one another.

The question how do we judge, on what basis do we judge, how certain can we be that our judgment is accurate and correct? What does it cost to give another person the benefit of the doubt, or not to judge too quickly, or to try and understand why they think or act this way, if it’s possible to do so? We count the cost. We always hope other people will understand us, but are we people who are quick to blame, quick to find fault and criticize others? Yes, we have to make judgments, but are our judgments accurate, compassionate, understanding and wise, or the judgments made simply to suit ourselves and serve our own needs and desires? I think, generally speaking, that we should try to be as patient with other people to the degree we would like other people to be patient with us. What often happens is that we think we are excellent drivers, who only sometimes make small mistakes, while the roads are actually filled with people who should be stripped of their driver’s license.

The key factor here I think is patience. We need more patience with one another even at home. Patience doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to things that are wrong or dangerous. Patience may or may not help us to have more understanding of another person, but certainly patience can help us not to put ourselves above other people as superior human beings, and then fall into the kind of judgment Christ tells us we may not use. St. Paul says in today’s epistle, “May the God of patience and of comfort grant that you be of one mind toward one another according to Jesus Christ, that, in one spirit, you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The one thing we are usually not impatient about getting is patience, but patience can serve us so very well especially since we never have a perfect understanding of other people—nor do we even have a perfect understanding of our own thoughts and actions.

How much more patient should we be with other people on a practical basis? I’ll have to leave that up to your own discernment, but it is not a virtue that will come to us automatically.

And now to start my second sermon—notice the reaction of the two blind men after they receive their sight? They become evangelists for Jesus going throughout the region telling people about Him and praising His name. They only received their sight from Christ. We have received the gift of His own divine life. Did they understand Jesus better than we do?