March 15, 2026

Dear Parishioners,

Our Gospel this Sunday is the healing of the man born blind from John chapter 9. The scene is a dramatic one involving a rather eventful trial with parents being called in as witnesses and the defendant arguing with the plaintiffs (the Pharisees). The Pharisees ultimately did not care about the defendant and the truth. They were merely trying to discredit Jesus. They had to prove that no miracle occurred or, failing that, if Jesus performed the miracle, that he did so from the power of Satan.

The Pharisees and the crowd begin by simply saying that the man who is now seeing was not the same man who was the beggar. “No, he just looks like him,” they say. A pretty weak argument, and one that is easily dismissed.

But, actually, this is more clever than meets the eye. It was an intimidation tactic. The Pharisees were basically giving the blind man a chance to back out of the situation and not testify. When the Pharisees ask him, “You’re not actually that blind beggar who used to sit by the gate?” the man could have shifted his eyes and said, “Um, that’s right. I’m not him.” Case closed. Everyone goes home happy. Peace is restored.

But that’s not obviously what happens. “I am he,” says the man. I’m sure the man’s friends and parents (who were next dragged into court to testify) were probably nudging him saying, “Just say you’re not the man.” But the man couldn’t lie.

And more than just not lying, the man couldn’t deny something stirring within him. You see, he was already beginning to feel a powerful movement towards Jesus. We’ll see this as the trial goes on. It’s a progression of faith. The man is asked more and more questions, he grows bolder in his responses, and, at the end, he makes an offering of worship to Jesus Christ.

The man cannot lie, cannot suppress what is happening inside of him–the recognition that this Jesus has something special and he wants to be part of it. The man does not take the easy way out. It will cost him his membership in the nation, for the Pharisees will excommunicate him. This is the price he pays for following his heart. It is totally worth it. He is thrown out of the nation, sure, but he is plunged into faith with Jesus Christ and entered into the new nation (the Church). When we follow our hearts–hearts hopefully being inspired by the Holy Spirit–there will be a price to pay. There is always a price to pay when we take the harder path. Call it the way of the cross. But the reward is great. The reward is union with God.

Let me go back to the initial question, “Are you the one who used to beg?” and the response, “I am.” There is something profound going on here. I am. The blind man would have heard Jesus say this just a few moments earlier.

In chapter 8 of John’s Gospel, Jesus was similarly on trial before the Pharisees (one of many trials Jesus underwent). He had just pardoned the woman caught in adultery by writing in the sand. The Pharisees asked him, “who are you?” Jesus responded: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me” (John 8:28). The Pharisees pressed the argument, and Jesus repeated: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM” (John 8:58).

I am. There’s something remarkable about owning who you are. It might seem self-evident—doesn’t everyone ‘own who they are’?—but it’s not necessarily the case. How many people hide behind certain masks? How many people follow whatever the trend in society might be? How many people do what they do without knowing why they are doing it, let alone feeling called by God to do it? They are not saying I am. They are saying I am not. They are effectively saying, I am nothing, so let me just move blindly along this track society is proposing to me. They do not know who they are, and they go in whatever direction the wind blows. In the end, they end up right where they started. They haven’t moved forward at all. They’re stuck in place.

The blind man is clearly moving forward. He moves to the Pool at Siloam to wash. Then he moves into the temple to answer the charges. Then he moves out of the temple and outside the city to meet Jesus.

We might seem like we’re progressing all the time in society. Advanced technology, improved health, new social mores, different forms of governance—all things to indicate we’re enlightened and have thrown off antiquated traditions. In reality, we haven’t moved at all.

Only in Christ do we advance. Only Jesus can come to us, heal us of our blindness, and send us forward. Only in Jesus can we say, “Yes, I AM.” Because it is Jesus who created us, and we can trust that, even though we are imperfect and are sinners, our lives are willed by God and are thus meaningful.

A relationship to Christ is the path to authenticity. We are saved only in Christ. It is the Church’s mission to hold this truth. And when people are blind and sitting by the roadside begging, it is for the Church to bring Christ to them to heal them.

So, I ask you, WHO ARE YOU? Spend some time in prayer with that. Ask the Lord. I pray you can see, and I pray you have the grace to confidently say, I AM. Then you can go on to do God’s work.

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We will have a Family Mass this Sunday, March 15th at 10:30am in the HFC. Our next family Mass will be next month, Sunday, April 19th.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and happy Feast of St. Joseph. And a reminder, we will have Stations of the Cross again this Friday at 7pm.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace