BLIND SINCE BIRTH - 4th Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)

Homily for the 4^th Sunday of (Cycle A)

Based on Jn 9:1-41 (Gospel), 1 S 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 (First Reading) and Eph 5:8-14 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

BLIND SINCE BIRTH

“God does not see as man sees” (1 S 16:7)

The Gospel narrative is taken from Jn 9:1-41. It is under the title “The Cure Of The Man Born Blind”. Parallel text is from Is 42:7 that says: To open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.

Verses 1, 2 and 3 say: As he went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi , who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind? ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered ‘he was born blind so that the works of God^a might be displayed in him. Footnote ^a  says “‘Signs’, cf. 2:11+”.

Parallel texts for verse 3 are:

1.       Jn 5:14 - After a while Jesus met him in the temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin anymore, or something worse may happen to you.’^d.  Footnote ^d says “Jesus does not say that the disease was the result of sin, cf. 9:2f. He warns the man that the cure is a divine favor that must be acknowledged by conversion, cf. Mt 9:2-8; to forget this is to risk something worse than the diseases. The miracle is therefore a ‘sign’ of spiritual resurrection, v. 24.”

2.       Lk 13:2 - At this he said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans who suffered like that that were greater sinners than any other Galileans?

Verse 4 says: ‘As long as the day lasts I must^b carry out the work of the one who sent me; the night will soon be here when no one can work.^c Footnote ^b  says “Var, ‘we must’.”; and Footnote ^c  says “The life of Jesus is compared to a day’s work, 5:17, ending with the night of death. Cf. Lk 13:32.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 11:9-10 - Jesus replied: ”Are there not twelve hours in a day? A man can walk I the daytime without stumbling because he has the light of this world to see by (v. 9); but if he walks at night he stumbles, because there is no light to guide him.’

2.       Jn 12:35-36 - Jesus then said: ‘The light will be with you only a little longer now. Walk^m while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark does not know where he is going (v. 35). While you still have the light, believe in the light and you will become sons of light (v. 36).’ Footnote ^m says “Jesus urges the Jews to believe in him before it is too late, cf. 7:34.”

3.       Jn 4:34 - But Jesus said: ‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work.

4.       Jn 5:16 - It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.^e Footnote ^e  says “The episode is concluded in 7:19-23. The discourse of 5:19-47 falls into two parts: 1. The Father commit lifegiving power to the Son, vv. 19-30; 2. The Father bears witness to the Son: a. through the Baptist, b. through the works the Father does through Jesus, c. through the scriptures (Moses), vv. 31-47.”

Verses 5 and 6 say: As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.’^d Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man… Footnote ^d  says “Before the miracle takes place its significance is pointed out, cf.9:37.”

Parallel texts for verse 5 are:

1.       Jn 8:12 - When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: ‘I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; he will have the light of life’.

2.       Mt 5:14 - You are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden.

3.       Jn 9:37 - Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you’.

Verses 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 say:…and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam^e (a name that mean ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored. His neighbors and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one’. Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him’. The man himself said, ‘I am the man’. So they said to him, ‘Then how do your eyes come to be open? I washed I could see.’ ‘The man called Jesus’ he answered ‘made a paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, “Go and wash at Siloam”; so I went, and when they asked, ‘Where is he?’ ‘I don’t know’ he answered. They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Footnote ^e  says “The water drawn from here during the feast of Tabernacles symbolized the blessings of the messianic age. Henceforth, the source of these blessings is Jesus himself. ‘The envoy’, or ‘the one sent’, is one of Jn’s favorite names for Christ, cf. 3:17,34; 5:36, etc.”

Parallel texts for verse 7 are:

1.       2 K 5:10 - And Elisha sent him a messenger to say, ‘Go and bather seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more’.

2.       Is 8:6 - Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah^e which flow in tranquility, and trembles^f  before Razon and the son of Remaliah… Footnote  ^e says “Jerusalem’s only spring, cf. 2 K 20:20+, symbolizes the hidden protection of God, the true source of confidence.”; and Footnote ^f  says “‘trembles (lit. ‘melts’) before’ corr.; ‘rejoices’ Hebr.”

Verses 14 and 15 say: It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste^f and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see’. Footnote ^f  says “Such work was forbidden on the sabbath.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 5:9 - The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.

2.       Mt 12:10fp - And a man was there at that time who had a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it against the law to cure on the Sabbath day?” hoping for something to use against him.

3.       Lk 13:10f  - One Sabbath day he was teaching in one of the synagogue…

4.       Lk 14:1f  - Now on a sabbath day he had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely.

Verse 16 says: Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath’. Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them.

Parallel text for verse 16 is Jn 3:2 that says: ..who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him’.

Verses 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 say: So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet’ replied the man. However, the Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight,^g without first sending for his parents and asking them, ‘Is this man really your son who say was born blind? Is so, how is it that he is now able to see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind, but we don’t know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes.^h He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ Footnote ^g  says “Om. ‘that the man had been blind and had gained his sight’.”; and Footnote ^h  says “Add. ‘ask him’“

Verses 22-30 say: His parents spoke like this out of fear of Jews, who had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. This was why his parents said, ‘He is old enough; ask him’. So the Jews again sent for the man and said to him, ‘Give glory to God!ⁱ For our part, we know that this man is a sinner. The man answered, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see’. They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He replied, ‘I have told you once and you wouldn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it all again? Do you want to become his disciples too? At this they hurled abuse at him: ‘You can be his disciple,’ they said ‘we are disciples of Moses: we know that God spoke Moses, but as for his man, we don’t know where he comes from’. The man replied, ‘Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from!  Footnote ⁱ  says “A biblical phrase putting a person under oath to tell the truth and to make reparation for his insult to the divine majesty, cf. Jos 7:19; 1 S 6:5.”

Parallel texts for verse 22 are:

1.       Jn 7:13 - Yet no one spoke about him openly, for fear of the Jews.

2.       Jn 12:42 - And yet there were many who did believe in him, even among the leading men, but they did not admit it, through fear of the Pharisees and fear of being expelled from the synagogue…

Verses 31 and 32 say: We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind,^j  if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ Footnote ^j says “There are many points of resemblance between ch. 9 and 3:1-21, and it is probable that to the evangelist’s mind the cure of the man born blind is a symbol of the new birth through water and the Spirit, 3:3-7.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 10:21 - Others said, ‘These are not the words of a man possessed by a devil: could a devil open the eyes of the blind.

2.       Pr 15:29 - Yahweh stands far from the wicked, but he listens to the prayers of the virtuous.

3.       Is 1:15 - When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen. Your hands are covered with blood…

Verse  33 says: if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’

Parallel text is  Jn 3:2 that says: ...who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him’.

Verse 34 and 35 say: ‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away. Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’

Parallel text is Jn 7:49 that says: This rabble knows nothing about the Law-they are damned.’

Verse 36 says: ‘Sir,’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’

Parallel text is Mt 8:20 that says:  Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man^h has nowhere to lay his head.’  Footnote ^h says “ With the exception of Ac 7:56, Rv 1:13; 14:14; this title appears only in the  gospels. There is no doubt that Jesus used it of himself, and indeed preferred it to others. At times he uses it to express his lowly state, 8:20; 11:19; 20:28, especially the humiliation of the Passion, 17:22, etc. At others times it is used to proclaim the definitive triumph of his resurrection, 17:9, of his return in glory, 24:30; of his coming in judgment, 25:31. That this title, Aramaic in flavor, could bring together these seemingly  opposed qualities is clear from the following considerations. The phrase originally meant ‘man’, Ezk. 2:1+, and by reason of its unusual and indirect form it underlined the lowliness of man’s state. But the title suggested glory, too. It was used in Dn 7:13+, and later in the Jewish apocalyptic Book of Enoch, to indicate the transcendent figure, heavenly in origin, who was to receive from God’s hand the eschatological kingdom (the kingdom ‘at the end of times’). In this way therefore the title both veiled and hinted at (cf. Mk. 1:34+; Mt. 13:13+) the sort of Messiah Jesus was. Moreover, the explicit avowal in the presence of the Sanhedrin, 26:64+, should have removed all ambiguity.”

Verse 37 says: Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you’.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 4:26  - ‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus ‘I am he.’

2.       Jn 9:5 - As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.’^d Footnote ^d  says “Before the miracle takes place its significance is pointed out, cf.9:37.”

Verse 38 says: ^kThe man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.  Footnote ^k  says “Om. All v. 38 and first two words of v. 39.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt 8:10 - When Jesus heard this, he was astonished  and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith^b like this. Footnote ^b says “ The faith that Jesus asks for from the outset of public life (Mk. 1:15) and throughout his subsequent career, is that act of trust and self-abandonment by which people no longer rely on their own strength and policies but commit themselves to the power and guiding word of him in whom they believe (Lk. 1:20,45; Mt. 21:25p,32). Christ asks for this faith especially when he works his miracles(8:13; 9:2p; 22p, 28-29; 15:28; Mk 5:36p;10:52p; Lk 17:19) which are not so much acts of mercy as signs attesting his mission and witnessing to the kingdom (8:3+; cf. Jn 2:11+), hence he cannot work miracles unless he finds the faith without which the miracle lose their true significance (13:58p; 12;38-39; 16:1-4). Since the faith demands the sacrifice of the whole man, mind and heart, it is not an easy act of humility to perform; many decline it, particularly in Israel (8:10p; 15:28; 27:42p; Lk 18;8), or are half-hearted (Mk 9;24; Lk 8;13). Even the disciples are slow to believe (8:26p; 14;31; 18;8; 17:20p) and are still reluctant after the resurrection (28;17; Mk 16:11-14; Lk 24;11,25,41). The most generous faith of all, of the ‘Rock’ (16:16-18), the disciples leader, was destined to the shaken by the outrage of the Passion (26:69-75p) though it was to triumph in the end (Lk 22:32). When faith is strong it works wonders (17:20p; 21:21p; Mk 16:17) and its appeal is never refused (21:22p; Mk 9:23) especially when it asks for forgiveness of sin (9:2p; Lk 7:50) and for that salvation of which it is the necessary condition (Lk 8;12; Mk 16:16, cf. Ac 3:16+).”

2.       Mt 23:16  - ‘Alas for you, blind guides! You say,ⁱ “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound”. Footnote ^I  says “The question of oaths: to release from those that has been hastily made the rabbis had to invoke tortuous reasoning.”

Verse 39 says: Jesus said: ‘It is for judgment that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight^l turn blind’. Footnote ^l  says “The complacent who trust to their own ‘light’, cf. vv. 24,29,34, as opposed to the humble, typified by the blind man. Cf. Dt 29:3; Is 6:9f; Jr 5:21; Ezk 12:2.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 8:12 - When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: ‘I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; he will have the light of life’.

2.       Jn1:1+ - In the beginning was the Word,^a the Word was with God and the Word was God. Footnote ^a  says “The O.T. speaks of the Word of God, and of his wisdom, present with God before the world was made, cf. Pr. 8:22+; Ws. 7:22+, by it all things were created, it is sent to earth to reveal the hidden designs of God; it returns to him with its work done, Is. 58:10-11, Pr. 8:22-36, Si. 24:3-22, Ws. 9:9-12.  On its creature role, cf. also Gn. 1:3,6 etc.: Is 40:8,26, 44:24-28; 48:13, Ps. 33:6, Jdt. 16:14, Si.42:15; on its mission, cf. Ws. 18:14-16, Ps.107:20; 147:15-18.  For John, too, 13:3, 16:28, the Word existed before the world in God, 1:1-2, 8:24+, 10:30+. It has come on earth, 1:9-14, 3:19, 12:46, cf. Mk 1:38+, being sent by the Father; 3:17,34,5:36, 43, 6:29, 7:29, 8:42, 9:7, 10:36, 11:42, 17:3,25,cf. Lk 4:43, to perform a task, 4:34+, namely, to deliver 3:11+, 8:21, 12:35, 13:3, 16:5, 17:11, 13, 20:17.  The incarnation enabled the N.T. and especially John, to se this separately and eternally existent Word-Wisdom as a person.”

3.       Mt 13:13 - The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.^e Footnote ^e says “The deliberate and culpable insensibility which is both the cause and the explanation of the withdrawal of grace. The preceding narratives, all o which throw light on this ‘hardening’, 11;16-19,20-24; 12:7,14,24-32,34,39,45, prepare the way for the parable discourse. Those who saw so dimly could only be further blinded by the light of full revelation, Mk 1:34+. Jesus, therefore, does not reveal with complete clarity the true nature of the messianic kingdom which is unostentatious. Instead he filters the light through symbols, the resulting half-light is nevertheless a grace from God, an invitation to ask for something better and accept something greater.”

4.       2 Th 2:12 - In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat.

Verse 40 says: Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, ‘We are not blind, surely?’

Parallel texts are:

1.       Is 5:21 - Who to those who think themselves wise and believe themselves cunning.

2.       Mt 15:14p  - Leave them alone. They are blind men leading blind men; and if ne blind man leads another, both will fall into the pit.

3.       Rm 2:19 - If you are convinced you can guide the blind and be a beacon to those in the dark…

Verse 41 says: Jesus replied: ‘Blind? If you were,^m you would not be guilty, but since you say “We see”, your guilt remains.  Footnote ^m  says “I.e if you knew you were blind, as blind men do.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 3:36 - Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life: the anger of God stays on him.

2.       Jn 12:48 - He who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.

3.       Mt 23:16f  - ‘Alas for you, blind guides! You say,ⁱ “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound”.  Footnote ⁱ says “The question of oaths: to release from those that had been hastily made the rabbis had to invoke tortuous reasoning.

The First Reading  is from 1 S 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 under the title “David is anointed^a”. Footnote a says: ^“The episode appears to derive  from the prophetic tradition and remains unrelated to the subsequent history in which David is anointed at Hebron by the men of Judah, 2 S 2:4, and then by the elders of Israel,2 S 5:3, without any further mention of the present anointing of which, according to 17:28, and despite 16:13, Eliab has no knowledge.”

Verses 1 and 6 say: Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘How long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill you horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely Yahweh’s anointed one stands there before him’,

Parallel text is 1 Ch 11:3 that says: So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a pact with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh, and they anointed David king of Israel, in accordance with the word of Yahweh through Samuel.

Verse 7 says: but Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see^b as man sees; man looks at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart’. Footnote ^b  says “‘God sees’ Greek.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       1 S 9:2 - He had a son named Saul,^b a handsome man in the prime of his life. Of all the Israelites there was no more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people. Footnote ^b  says “i.e. ‘asked for’ (from God).”

2.       1 S 10:23 - So they ran and brought him out and,  as he stood among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than them all.

3.       Jb 10:4 - Have you got human eyes? Do you see as mankind see?

4.       Ps 147:10f - The strength of the war horse means nothing to him, it is not infantry that interests him.

5.       Pr 15:11 - Sheol and Perdition lie open to Yahweh; how much more the hearts of mankind!

6.       Is 55:8-9…for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways—it is Yahweh who speaks (v. 8). Yes, the heavens are as high above the earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts. (v. 9).

7.       Jr 11:20 - But, you, Yahweh Sabaoth, who pronounce a just sentence who probe the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.^j Footnote ^j  says “‘I have committed’ corr.; ‘I have revealed’ Hebr. On such appeals to God for revenge, cf. Ps 5:10+.”

8.       Jr 17:10 - I, Yahweh, search to the heart, I probe the loins,  to give each man what his conduct and his actions deserve.

9.       Jr 20:12 - But you, Yahweh Sabaoth, you who probe with justice, who scrutinize the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.^g Footnote ^g  says “‘with justice’ two Hebr. MSS, Syr., Arab., cf. 11:20: ‘the just man’ Hebr. ‘committed’ corr., cf. 11:20; ‘revealed’ Hebr. This verse, a repetition of 11:20, does not seem to have belonged here originally.”

Verse 10 says: Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Yahweh has not chosen these’.

Parallel text is 1 S 17:2 that says: Saul and the Israelites also mustered, pitching camped in the valley of the Terebinth, and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.

Verse 11 says: He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have? He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep’. Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes’.

Parallel text is 2 S 7:8 that says: This is what you must say to my servant David, “Yahweh Sabaoth says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be the leader of my people Israel…

Verses 12 and 13 say: Jesse had him sent for, a boy^c of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. Yahweh said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of Yahweh seized on David^d and stayed with him from that day on. As for Samuel, he rose and went to Ramah.. Footnote ^c says  “‘a boy’ conj.”; and Footnote ^d says “‘The spirit of God’ possesses David without external manifestation and in close association with the anointing: this is the grace bestowed on one consecrated. The name ‘David’ is an ancient semitic word for ‘commander’, ‘military leader’.”

Parallel texts for verse 12 are:

1.       1 S 9:2 - He had a son named Saul,^b a handsome man in the prime of his life. Of all the Israelites there was no more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people.

Footnote

2.       Gn 39:6 - So he left Joseph to handle all his possessions, and with him at hand, concerned himself with nothing beyond the food he ate.

3.       2 S 14:25 - In the whole of Israel there was no man who could be praised for his beauty as much as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was not blemish on him.

4.       1 S 9:17 - When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh told him, ‘That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule my people.

The Second Reading is from Eph 5:8-14.

Verses 8 to 13 say: Make sure that you are not included with them. You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated.

 Parallel texts  for verse 8 are:

1.       Ep 4:18 - Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, without knowledge because they have shut their hearts to it.

2.       Jb 24:13 - Others of themⁱ hate the light,  no nothing of its ways, avoid its paths. Footnote ⁱ says “This attack on the enemies of light (possibly an independent poem inserted here by the author) brings us back to the oppressors:  God allows them to work in the dark. ‘light’ has here a moral sense also, cf. Jn. 8:12+.”

3.       Jn 8:12 - When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: ‘I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; he will have the light of life’.

4.       2 Co 4:6 - It is the same God that said, “Let there be light shining out of darkness,” who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

5.       2 Co 6:14 - ^cDo not harness yourselves in an uneven team with unbelievers. Virtue is no companion for crime. Light and darkness have nothing in common. Footnote ^c says “6:14-7:1 is a warning against the infiltration of pagan practices which would split the church and cut it off from its founder. This section is somewhat alien to the context, cf. Introduction.”

6.       Col 1:12-13…thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.^c (v.12). Because it is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of his Son that he loves (v. 13). Footnote ^c  says “Lit. ‘Thanking the Father (for) having made you (var. ‘us’) fit for the part of the lot of the saints in the light’; var. ‘for having called you (var. ‘us’) to…’ The ‘lot of the saints’ is what all holy people are to inherit, i.e. the ‘salvation’ that had been thought of as a bequest made exclusively to Israel. Now, non-Jews are called to share it, cf. Ep 1:11-13. The word ‘saints’ (lit. ‘holy ones’) here can mean either Christians, i.e. people called to live the ‘life of light’ while still living on earth, Rm 1:7f, cf. Jn 8:12f, or it can mean the angels who live with God in the eschatological ‘light’, cf. Ac 9:13+.”

7.       1 Th 5:4-8 - But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day^c to overtake you like a thief (v. 4). No you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness (v. 5), so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober (v. 6). Night is the time for sleepers to sleep and drunkards to be drunk (v. 7), but we belong to the day and we should be sober, let us put on faith and love for a breastplate, and the hope of salvation for a helmet (v. 8). Footnote ^c  says “Mention ‘the Day’ without further qualification, 1 Co 1:8+, helps Apostle Paul to introduce the mention of light and day and contrast ‘wakefulness’ with the dark, night and sleep (in a different sense from 4:13f), and also make the contrast between Christians (sons of the light) and others (sons of darkness), cf. Jn 8:12+.”

Verse 14 say: and anything illuminated turns into light.^b That is why it is said:^c Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.^d Footnote ^b  says “The wrong sort of way to talk about sexual immorality is the way that leaves the subject in a dangerous obscurity, v. 3. To talk about it in such a way however that it is recognized for what it is will lead to its being corrected: this sort of light is the light of Christ that puts an end to darkness.”; Footnote ^c  says “This (like 1 Tm 3:16) seems to be an ancient extract from an early Christian hymn. On baptism as an enlightening, cf. Heb 6:4; 10:32 (cf. Rm 6:4+).”; and  Footnote ^d  says “ Var. ‘and you will touch Christ’.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 3:20-21 - And indeed, everybody  who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed (v. 20), but the man who lives by the truth^j comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done by God.’(v. 21). Footnote ^j says “Lit. ‘does the truth’, cf. 1 Jn. 3:19+.”

2.       Is 26:19 - Your dead will come to life, their^e corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your^f dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.^g  Footnote ^e says “‘their’ Syr., Targ.; ‘my’ Hebr.”; Footnote ^f  says “‘your’ singular.”; and Footnote ^g  says “A prophecy of resurrection ( 2 M 7:9+) according to some, of Israel’s national revival (cf. Ezk 37) according to others.”

3.       Is 60:1 - Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of Yahweh is rising on you.

4.       Heb 6:4 - As for those people who were once  brought into the light, and tasted the gift from heaven, and received a share of the holy Spirit….

5.       Heb 10:32 - Remember all the sufferings that you had to meet  after you had received the light,^d in earlier days. Footnote ^d  says “‘Enlightenment’ or ‘illumination’ in NT as in patristic writers always refers to baptism, 6:4; Ep 5:14 (cf Rm 6:4+).”

Homily:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Blindness is the condition of poor visual perception.

Causes of blindness:

Permanent blindness – either only one or both eyeballs and the optic nerves are cut, impaired or defective; Temporary blindness – temporary impairment of the eyes.