Sunday 8 C (2019)
[It is eighteen years since we last had these particular readings on a Sunday, so don’t feel too bad if that first reading seemed unfamiliar!]
Today, we have several of our young people
expressing their commitment
to prepare for the sacrament of Confirmation
which Bishop Ralph will come to confer on May 18th.
I want to talk to them specifically.
The gospel we have just heard
seems to be a collection of several separate sayings of Jesus.
I want to pick up on the first one:
It is an image that teaches us about something else,
so it is called a parable, even though it is very short.
Jesus asks the question:
‘Can one blind man guide another?
Well the answer is supposed to be obvious:
No he cannot, this will not go well,
or, as the gospel puts it:
Surely both will fall into a pit?
Obviously, Jesus isn’t really giving advice to blind people.
Rather, He is talking about how we find direction in our lives.
He is saying,
if we pay attention to people who have no idea about the right direction,
it will not go well.
We will be like the blind being led by the blind.
Much of what we come across every day
in television programmes,
in adverts,
through social media,
on the internet,
misleads us:
misleads about what is important,
misleads about what is right,
misleads about what will make us truly happy.
These things affect us:
they shape what we think of as normal.
They have an affect
on what it seems normal to say,
on what it seems normal to do,
on what it seems normal to want to have,
on what it seems normal to want to be.
Television programmes, adverts, social media, the internet:
they all have plenty of blind guides behind them,
leading those who pay too much attention,
into one kind of pit or another.
How do we protect ourselves against bad influences?
We need a sure guide in life,
a guide that shows the right way,
a guide that allows us to see where are being led astray
by television programmes, adverts, social media, the internet,
or even by our friends.
Jesus is that guide. He says ‘I am the Way’.
The Holy Spirit is given to us in our hearts
to draw us to follow Jesus – to be His disciple –
to draw us to become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, deep within us,
warns us when we are in danger of following blind guides.
Sometimes these warnings are immediate and strong,
feelings like ‘I shouldn’t be doing this’,
but usually the warnings are very gentle.
To receive them, we need to pay attention.
Lent, which starts on Wednesday,
is a special time to tune in to the Holy Spirit,
speaking in the heart, about what is guiding life.
Here is a simple method.
Towards the end of every day,
say the Our Father slowly and carefully,
ask God to help you know what is guiding you.
Then think about the conversations you have had that day,
and what you have been doing;
let God show you where the good influences are in your life.