Homily

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 are blind 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: 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 believe that is also true about ourselves as well. We can’t always fully understand why we think this way, or act this way, or why we react like this or like that.

I recently watched a tv program that was showing a day in the life of a big city hospital emergency room. A man was brought in screaming at the top of his lungs, with his arm being held up by paramedics. If arm was raised a little higher or lower, he screamed in pain like he was the most tortured person on earth, yelling and lashing out at his helpers. He was a really big guy and I thought he could have been a bit more in control of himself. As it turned out, x-rays showed he had three broken bones in his shoulder and they were all rubbing against each other in a gruesome way. The nurse said in over 30 years on the job she had never seen anything like it. She said, “I imagine the pain must have been like giving birth.” My first impressions about this man’s behavior were totally wrong.

The question is about how we judge, on what basis do we judge, how certain can we be that our judgment about other people is accurate and correct? And what does it actually cost, most of the time, to give another person the benefit of the doubt, or to not judge them too quickly, or to try and understand why they might think or act this way, if it’s possible to do so? We always hope other people will understand us, and we may become frustrated when they don’t, 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 are they 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 something different. 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 licenses for their many deliberate and gross offenses against the motor code and humanity at large.

The key factor here I think is patience. We need more patience with one another—even at home. Especially 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 though we are 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 can never have a perfect understanding of other people—especially since we often do not 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. It needs to be desired and cultivated and practiced consciously. Patience rarely costs us what we think it costs, and its benefits extend not only to the people I interact with, but it also benefits me. Patience gives us more time to consider what our best response should be—or even whether we need to respond at all. And, to tell the truth, I’ve never heard anyone say, “My impatience really helped me.”

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. Let us not be shy when there are opportunities to talk about our Lord.