As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, was it his sin or that of his parents that caused him to be born blind?" "Neither," answered Jesus.... Rather, it was to let God's works show forth in him." With that Jesus spat on the ground, made mud with his saliva, and smeared the man's eyes with the mud. Then he told him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam."... So the man went off and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and the people who had been accustomed to see him begging began to ask, "Isn't this the fellow who used to sit and beg?"... The man himself said, "I am the one."... They took the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. (Note that it was on a Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud paste and opened his eyes.) The Pharisees, in turn, began to inquire how he had recovered his sight. He told them.... The Jews refused to believe that he had really been born blind and had begun to see, until they summoned the parents of this man.... The parents answered: "We know this is our son, and we know he was blind at birth. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we have no idea."...  Jesus sought him out and asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"... "I do believe, Lord," he said and bowed down to worship him. 

In the movie "The Truman Show," Truman Burbank gradually discovered that he was the object of a hoax, something, as he said, that everyone was in on. His principal problem dealt with his freedom that had been taken away from him. He knew he deserved to be a free person, and at the same time, for some reason he knew he was not. So, he had to do something, something that would give him his freedom back. His problem was that he had no idea what was taking away his freedom, and therefore had no way of determining what to do. He must have realized that if he did something, things might not be as good as he had in his past, but he was willing to adjust to anything to have his freedom.

The state of mind of Truman Burbank was not unlike the state of mind of the man born blind in John's Gospel. The man had received sight from a wonder worker, and he was indeed thankful. But since the time he received his sight, his life was topsy-turvy. His main difficulty was the involvement of the religious leaders who did not seem to understand what happened to him. Jesus finally made the connection for him, and suddenly his life became better, and because of the freedom he experienced, he was able to live well again. People deserve to be free, even though there will be difficult times as a result of the freedom.

We all deserve to be free. There should be nothing that takes away our basic rights. We may give up such freedom by our own will, as those do who voluntarily offer themselves to some cause, but it must be our choice. However, remaining free does not necessarily take away the difficult moments of life. Our freedom makes us responsible for our own acts, and sometimes our acts are not at all reflective of what a Christian should and should not do. Also things happen to us that change our lives, even though we may remain free. But, the story of Truman Burbank should teach us that even with the drawbacks of having freedom and the difficulties that may go with it, living with freedom is always better than living without it.

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you meant for all of us to be free, and use the freedom that we have in a responsible way. Help us truly appreciate what we have. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America