Tag: john9:6

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 March – ‘… The Hand of God … ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 22 March – Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent and the Memorial of St Isidore the Farmer (c 1070 -1130) Confessor – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“I am the light of the world. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and spread the clay upon his eyes,” – John 9:5-6

REFLECTION – “To the man who had been blind from birth He gave sight, not by means of a word but by an outward action, doing this, not without a purpose or because it so happened but that He might show forth, the Hand of God which, at the beginning had moulded man. And, therefore, when His disciples asked Him, for what cause the man had been born blind, whether for his own or his parents’ faults, He replied: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,but that the Works of God, should be made manifest in him.” Now the Work of God is the fashioning of man. For, as Scripture says, He made [man] by a kind of process: “And the Lord took clay from the earth and formed man.” (Gn 2:7). Wherefore also, the Lord spat on the ground and made clay and smeared it upon the eyes, pointing to the original fashioning, how it was effected and manifesting the Hand of God to those who can understand, by what [Hand] man was formed out of the dust…

And, inasmuch, as man, with respect to that formation which, after Adam, had fallen into transgression, needed the layer of regeneration, [the Lord] said to him [upon whom He had conferred sight], after He had smeared his eyes with the clay: “Go to Siloam and wash,” thus restoring to him, both [his perfect] confirmation and that regeneration which took place, by means of the smearing. And so, when he had washed, he emerged seeing that he might both know Him Who had fashioned him and might learn [to know] Him, Who has conferred life upon him …

But He, the very same Who formed Adam at the beginning, with Whom also the Father spoke, [saying], “Let Us make man after Our Image and Likeness,” revealing Himself in these last times to men, formed visual organs for him, who had been blind, [in that body which he had derived] from Adam.” – St Irenaeus (130-202) Bishop, Martyr, Theologian, Father of the Church (Against Heresies, V, 15, 2-4).

PRAYER – Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, through the intercession of the blessed Confessor Isidore, so to acknowledge Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou have sent, that we may be found worthy to be forever numbered among the sheep who hear His Voice.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect)Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 March – Jesus worked a new creation.

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 22 March – The Fourth “Laetare” Sunday of Lent, Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Psalm 23:1-6, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

“He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay” … John 9:6

john 9 6 he spat on the ground and made clay - 22 march 2020

REFLECTION – “Let us reflect briefly on the account of the man born blind (Jn 9: 1-41). According to the common mentality of the time, the disciples take it for granted that his blindness was the result of a sin committed by him or his parents.   Jesus, however, rejects this prejudice and says – “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents but that the works of God might be made manifest in him” (Jn 9: 3).
… And He immediately takes action – mixing a little earth with saliva he made mud and spread it on the eyes of the blind man.   This act alludes to the creation of man, which the Bible recounts using the symbol of dust from the ground, fashioned and enlivened by God’s breath (Gn 2: 7).   In fact, “Adam” means “ground” and the human body was in effect formed of particles of soil.   By healing the blind man, Jesus worked a new creation.
But this healing sparked heated debate because Jesus did it on the Sabbath, thereby, in the Pharisees’ opinion, violating the feast-day precept.   Thus, at the end of the account, Jesus and the blind man are both cast out, the former because he broke the law and the latter because, despite being healed, he remained marked as a sinner from birth.
Jesus reveals to the blind man whom He had healed that He had come into the world for judgement, to separate the blind who can be healed, from those who do not allow themselves to be healed because they consider themselves healthy.   Indeed, the temptation to build himself an ideological security system is strong in man – even religion can become an element of this system, as can atheism or secularism but in letting this happen, one is blinded by one’s own selfishness.” … Pope Benedict XVI – 2 March 2008

and he immediately takes action - pope benedict man born blind - 22 march 2020

PRAYER – Holy Father, we are sinners who stand in Your presence and serve You.   Grant us Your mercy and forgiveness, for we are all Your prodigal children.   Your Word, our Christ, came to redeem us, to relieve our blindness and open our eyes, to open our ears, that we might hear.   May Mary Most Holy, who, by conceiving Christ in the flesh, gave the world the true light, help us to conquer the ‘great transgression’ of our pride.   May we honour, love and serve You through His example and by following in His steps. Through Jesus our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, amen.

MARY immaculate pray for us 22 march 2020