AUDIO MEDITATION:

Georges Rouault (French, 1871–1958), Sometimes the Blind Comfort Those That See, 1926, etching and aquatint over heliogravure on laid paper. Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame: Gift of Mr. Leonard Scheller, 1973.090.001

FULL TEXT:

Jesus and his disciples pass a man blind from birth, and the occasion raises questions for them. They ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Their question reveals a desire to avoid unexplained suffering. They want to find a reason for the man’s condition, to put him in a category and thereby set him aside. Jesus answers their question by explaining, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

This etching is named, “Sometimes the Blind Comfort those that See.” It is not clear which of these figures is blind, and which can see. Who is leading whom? Perhaps the important thing is that these two figures are working together. An unseen bond seems to connect them—in fact, their arms seem to nearly run together.

We all suffer and depend upon God. How do our Lenten practices open us up to the suffering of others?