What for?

by Deacon José  |  03/19/2023  |  From the Clergy

We see what we want to see. If I know I will not like a place before I get there, I will find all the reasons why I don’t like it; but if I keep a positive mind, I will find many reasons to like it. The same happens if I don’t like someone, I will never see the goodness in that person; but if I keep an open mind, I may see it. In the Gospel, the blind recovers the sight and was very happy, but the Pharisees could only see that it was done on the Sabbath. Would the Pharisees have been more supportive if this had been done on another day? I doubt it, they only saw what they wanted to see, and they would have found another reason to dislike Jesus.

The disciples asked Jesus why this man was blind, who had sinned, him or his parents. It seems every time we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we always try to find the action or the “sin” that brought that punishment into our life. We ask “why, why me, what did I do?” And we drown in our sea of guilt. Jesus responded not to the “why” question, but rather as if he was asked “what for?” And he replied, “so that the works of God might be made visible through him”. As Christians, as disciples of Jesus, we should not focus on the “why” but rather on the “what for”.

We should find the purpose of what is happening to us. What good is supposed to come out of this. In a personal experience I had over 10 years ago, I was consumed for several months asking “why, why me, what did I do to be punished like this”. When I switched my question to “what for” the answer was almost instantaneous, it was for me to understand that the Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; That even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for He is at my side.