Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 19, 2023
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered,
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.
We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him,
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is, ”
but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”
So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He replied,
“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
So I went there and washed and was able to see.”
And they said to him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath.”
But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again,
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
Now the Jews did not believe
that he had been blind and gained his sight
until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.
They asked them,
“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How does he now see?”
His parents answered and said,
“We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
We do not know how he sees now,
nor do we know who opened his eyes.
Ask him, he is of age;
he can speak for himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews,
for the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,
he would be expelled from the synagogue.
For this reason his parents said,
“He is of age; question him.”
So a second time they called the man who had been blind
and said to him, “Give God the praise!
We know that this man is a sinner.”
He replied,
“If he is a sinner, I do not know.
One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
So they said to him,
“What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?”
He answered them,
“I told you already and you did not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
They ridiculed him and said,
“You are that man’s disciple;
we are disciples of Moses!
We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do not know where this one is from.”
The man answered and said to them,
“This is what is so amazing,
that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners,
but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.
It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.
If this man were not from God,
he would not be able to do anything.”
They answered and said to him,
“You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?”
Then they threw him out.
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered and said,
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus said to him,
“You have seen him,
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
Then Jesus said,
“I came into this world for judgment,
so that those who do not see might see,
and those who do see might become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this
and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”
Jesus said to them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.
Today, March 19, is the day we celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph, the earthly protector of the Holy Family. St. Joseph’s Day is also Father’s Day in many European Catholic countries. In the United States, Italian-American communities mark the festa with the Sicilian custom of constructing a St. Joseph’s Day table.
These tables are always three-tiered and can range from simple to elaborate, and frequently hold flowers, sweet treats, specialty breads in shapes honoring St. Joseph, dried fava beans for good luck, and the saint’s own pastry, Zeppole di San Giuseppe. (I make mine gluten-free for the family.)
This year, St. Joseph’s Day falls on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as Laetare Sunday, in which the faithful get a peek at the joy of Easter that lies beyond the desert of Lent. In today’s rather lengthy Gospel of John, we follow the saga of the blind man whose sight is restored by Jesus after a lifetime in darkness.
Because of Christ’s audacity to do such miracles on the Sabbath, the young man is subjected to multiple rounds of interrogation by the local religious leaders. So wide-ranging is the inquiry that the leaders even call forth his parents, who are so intimidated by the intensity of the questioning that they distance themselves from their own son: “Ask him. He is of age; he can speak for himself.” Translation: “You’re on your own, kid. See you at home.”
Thankfully, young Jesus enjoyed a much more stalwart defender in his earthly father Saint Joseph, who’s vigilance and protection of the Blessed Mother and her Son was an enduring gift to the Holy Family and mankind. The saint’s steadfastness and dedication appropriately earned him the title of Patron of the Universal Church conferred by Pope Pius IX in 1870.
Happy Laetare Sunday, and please consider celebrating St. Joseph’s Day with a Zeppole!
Prayer
The man born blind did not ask for help, yet, Lord Jesus, you touched him, that the works of God might be made visible through him. Awaken us to your healing presence in our lives that we, too, might be drawn beyond the darkness and come to bear your bright promise of life in that kingdom where you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Aside from Mary herself, St. Joseph is the saint most represented on Notre Dame's campus in painted images, stained glass, and statues. Joseph is one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints, and he is also the patron saint of the brothers of Holy Cross, who built this University.
Joseph, like Mary, is one of the key figures of Salvation History, whose personality and biography are not included in Scripture. Most of our traditional stories about Joseph come from the early Christian legend, the Protoevangelium of James. From canonical Scripture, we know that Joseph was a laborer in Nazareth—a carpenter. We know he was not wealthy because when he took Mary and Jesus to the Temple after Jesus was born, he offered two doves, which was an allowance for those who could not afford to offer a lamb. Even though he was a worker, Joseph was from royal lineage—in Matthew's genealogy, which begins his Gospel, Joseph is listed as a descendant of King David.
In Scripture, Joseph provides us with the awe-inspiring example of a disciple who follows the Lord, no matter how surprising and shocking the commands received. When Joseph was engaged to Mary, she became pregnant with Jesus. Not knowing the child’s origin, Joseph planned to divorce her but intended to do so very quietly, so as to avoid scandal and causing additional pain for Mary. Joseph knew that this step could bring severe judgment—even stoning—upon the woman found pregnant by purported adultery. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream to explain the pregnancy and the identity of Jesus. In sheer obedience and faith, Joseph took Mary as his wife and provided for her and Jesus, whom he loved and cared for as his own son.
An angel appeared to him again, later, when Jesus was in danger. Joseph immediately followed the angel’s instructions, took his family to safety in Egypt, and only returned when the angel told him it was safe.
Because he is absent entirely from the story of Jesus’ public ministry, his passion and death, tradition teaches that Joseph died before these events took place. He is the patron of a happy death because tradition holds that he died of natural causes with Jesus and Mary at his side. (Joseph is pictured on his deathbed in a mural in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus, seen below.)
Above all, we know that Joseph was faithful—he followed all of the religious laws of the time, and made the expensive trip to Jerusalem every year to celebrate Passover there. He followed without question the promptings of the angels who appeared to him, even though it sent him into the unknown. The Catholic Church has taught that Joseph and Mary had a celibate marriage, certainly a difficult vocation.
Joseph has two feast days—today, and May 1, when he is venerated under the title, Joseph the Worker. He is patron saint of the universal Church, of workers and carpenters, of immigrants, of those who are dying, of those who are buying or selling a house, and of fathers, among many others who claim his intercession. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus, including pieces of his robe.
St. Joseph is depicted in a statue that stands atop the founder’s monument on campus, near Old College and the Log Chapel (shown in our featured image for today). In one hand, Joseph holds a lily—a traditional symbol of purity—and, in the other, he holds the child Jesus. St. Joseph was chosen for the monument because he is the patron of the Holy Cross brothers, who came to the American frontier in northern Indiana to establish a university. They taught and provided indispensable labor such as carpentry and farming, building Notre Dame in both the intellectual and physical sense. The names of the founding brothers are inscribed on the back of the pedestal. Joseph is an inspiring image of someone who, like the brothers of Holy Cross, seeks to conform his life to the shape of the cross. Whatever Joseph's hopes were for his own life or his relationship with Mary, he gave those up to help bring God's plan for salvation to fruition.
Among many other places on campus, Joseph is also depicted in this statue above that decorates the atrium in the Stinson-Remick Engineering Hall, where he is reading a scroll with the child Jesus.
St. Joseph, faithful spouse of the Blessed Virgin and patron saint of the Holy Cross brothers—pray for us!
To learn even more about St. Joseph, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.