3rd Sunday Lent...Are we Saved?

How do we know we are “Saved”?

This is a dangerous question.  Martin Luther asked that 500 years ago, and look at what happened!
How do we know we are saved?
Actually, the first part of this question is really to ask ourselves “What is Salvation?”  And as many of you know, I preach about this ad nauseum.
Salvation is to know and experience the Love of God.  Salvation is to know and experience our identity as a Child of God.  Salvation is the freedom to love and be loved.
Salvation is how we see.
Jesus, in the gospels, says to people “Repent!”  Or the Greek word “Metanoia”, which means change direction, change the way you see!
Did he not change how the man born blind sees?
Jesus sees the man as he is, a child of God.  He sees past the blindness, and certainly beyond the baggage of the people who think it is through sin that he is blind.
Since he sees the child of God in front of him, he heals him.
This man experiences the Salvation in Christ.
Then the Gospel cunningly sets him in contrast to those who have yet to experience Jesus’ Salvation.
It is important to note this man’s actions towards others and their reactions towards him.


People don’t believe it or cannot grasp it...they are limited in their understanding.
Even the man does not fully comprehend the how of it, but he is grateful for it.
Then he is confronted by the Pharisees.  
They only see him as a sinner and they see Jesus as a sinner;
unable to see the Good that has been done.  
They cannot see how they are held back by their own understanding of the Law.  Blinded by their own fears, egos, ignorance.
So they attack the man.  They attack his family.  They respond with the violence of words and finally with actions, they expel this man.
And the Man born Blind, his actions throughout it all?
I think he sees them in a nice light.  He sees them not a evil men, but as men still unable to see.  He doesn’t respond with violence towards them, he actually wants them to experience what he has experienced.  
He wants them to begin to grasp how God truly works!  I think he has love for them!
He wants to EVANGELIZE!
Here is the heart of this Gospel passage!
The Man Born Blind, now sees, and is living the Salvation of Jesus Christ.
He sees well.
How do we know we are saved?
Recently I was in Ireland, and part of our tour was to Belfast, in the Northern Republic.  Their recent history has been full of violence:  Irish versus British, Catholic versus Protestant.  Decades of people killing each other, and over what.  Decades of people only seeing enemies and differences.
Since 1998, the Good Friday accords have been in place.  Peace has slowly worked its way into this land.
We toured with a Catholic and Protestant.  They both talked about how they contributed to the violence, but now, they work for peace.  They literally see each other differently.  The see a human person.

How do we know we are saved?
Lent is this sacred time of that reminds us to discern how we are acting towards others...how do we see the world around us and the people.
How do we see ourselves.
I bet we know this type of person,  we give them some personal good news:  “Hey, I am going to Ireland for free!”
“Gee, I never get to go anywhere, I never get anything for free.”   They just suck the happiness out of something.  They only see what they do not think they have.

I know of people who only see bad in others, weakness in others, threats in others.  

I know of people in who place the blame for their own unhappiness on others:  fellow workers, bosses, companies, parishioners, priests, spouses, children, parents….

These people aren't bad or evil; they, along with you and me, are broken. We are so hurt, so scared, so filled with anger we will not allow God's grace to heal our blindness.

Fasting, Prayer, almsgiving I hope makes us think about how we react and act.  We can act out of our own egos or act with charity, compassion and mercy.
I honestly believe that if we live out that salvation of Jesus Christ, if we see and act accordingly, there would be less divisions in our parishes, communities, country and world.
How do we know we are saved?
When, in Christ, we build bridges.
We heal divisions.
We reach out to forgive.
We do not react out of fear, but act with faith.

How do we know we are saved?
Jesus Christ, in his extreme moment on the cross, looked at the people and saw brothers and sisters:  “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing?”
This same person of Christ is present in the bread and wine.
We claim we believe this.  We see it in the Eucharist.
If we can see the person of Christ in the bread and wine...what more can we see?
Are we truly seeing?

How do we know we are saved?

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