HOMILY - FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 22, 2020
ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS
Amelie Oksenberg Rorty is an American philosopher known for her work in the areas of the Philosophy of the Mind, the History of Philosophy, and Moral Philosophy. She was born in 1932 in Belgium of Polish-Jewish parents. Her family emigrated to the United States, and she studied at the University of Chicago and Yale University. She has written over 100 scholarly articles and edited over a dozen collections of essays in philosophy.
In a 1976 essay in the collection titled “The Identities of Persons,” she identifies a four-layered structure of identity, which she calls:
(1) character, (2) person, (3) selves, (4) and individual.
The first, character, she says is based on the physical; that is, external appearances, or what a person appears to be.
The second, person, reflects on the etymology of the word person which means “to speak through.” Thus it is based on what a person says and does.
The third, selves, falls back upon roles and relationships. That is what an individual is in relation to society and other people.
And finally, we reach the individual: the very root of someone; who they are on the inside, or in other words their very being.
In passing through Rorty’s hierarchical structure one moves from external appearances, through actions, and relationships; ultimately arrives at being.
She continues to teach, most recently as a visiting professor at Boston University and Tufts University, and is an honorary lecturer at Harvard Medical School.
Today is the Fourth Sunday in Lent and our readings relate to sight and seeing and vision.
The story of God choosing David as king shows that while humans judge by external physical appearances, God judges by what lies inside the heart. What we see … is more often than not … the same as what God Himself sees. God’s vision penetrates into our deepest being.
The Gospel plays this theme out in a dramatic way in the story from Saint John’s 9th Chapter on the healing of a blind man.
This healing of the man born blind is, however, merely a trigger for two contrary movements which occur as the story progresses.
We see the blind man healed by Jesus, and through the 41 verses, the former blind man moves from seeing Jesus as just another man – based on His external appearance; to a prophet – or a spokesman for God – based on His preaching and His ministry; to Someone Who comes from God, based on the power and magnitude of His mighty works; and finally recognizes Him as “Lord,” that is, the Son of God – Who in His Being is worthy of worship.
Meanwhile, the Pharisees go in the opposite direction: moving deeper and deeper into darkness and disbelief.
St. Paul, too, speaks in the context of darkness and light.
The world, he tells us, is darkness; and God is Light. We were once part of the world, and hence we were darkness. In coming into fellowship with God, we are called to not only appear to be Light, but to speak and act according to the Light by living in “goodness and righteousness and truth.” And in our relationship to God in Christ we are to truly become “light … [and] … [l]ive as children of light.”
We have arrived at the mid-point of Lent. These rose-colored vestments mark this turning point … showing us a ‘lighter’ shade of violet … to remind us that as we draw closer to Easter, and the end of Lent … we are coming more into the Light of Christ … which is poured out on us in the graces of the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray that the light of God may truly dwell in us. May we show His light forth in our daily lives, by what we say and what we do. Let us resolve to live through, with, and in Christ; in His Light … the Light of God … the Light of grace and mercy and love … poured out on us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
