An Authboigraphy in 5 Chapters

Those of you following the A-cycle readings on this upcoming scrutiny Sunday will hear the story of the man born blind whom Jesus cures. Richard Fragomeni connects this story to a 5-chapter autobiography going around the internet a few yearas ago. It goes like this:
Chapter 1: I walk down the street; there is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I'm lost, helpless. It's not my fault. It takes me forever to find my way out.
Chapter 2: I walk down the street; there is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place, but it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3: I walk down the same street; there's a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I fall in anyway; it is a habit but my eyes are opened and I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
Chapter 4: I walk down the same street; there's a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5: I walk down a different street.
The good news of this gospel is that we can examine our lives and identify our blindnesses; we can choose to walk down a different street, one well-lit by the blinding light of Jesus.

Dip and Dye

Richard Fragomeni tells a compelling story on one of his videos in regard to the upcoming gospel – The Woman at the Well. You see this Samaritan woman was drawn into conversation with Jesus as she came to draw water at about noon. Jesus engaged her when he asked for a cup of water. The story develops from being about H2O to living water, eternal life, which has the power to change us. He says that a mother had gone to the store and bought a Paas egg coloring kit. When she dissolved the tablets into the cups of boiling water, the colors became vibrant in the cups. Her child then dipped his egg into a bright purple cup and was excited to see the color transferred to the egg when he pulled it out. But as the egg dried, the color faded to a less-than-vibrant shade. That’s when his mother told him to “dip and dye, dip and dye”…that it takes many dips to achieve that vibrancy. As we approach the Easter sacraments, our elect too will be “dipped” into the water of Baptism, and will reflect that glow as they revel in the joy of the sacrament, and wear the white robe for the remainder of the evening. But the glow may fade as they (and we) face the challenges of life, and need to continually be “dipped” into reminders of our baptism – as we come into church and dip our fingers into the font, as we renew our baptismal promises, as we pray for courage to live them out. We could call this process dip and die – as we wrestle to die to ourselves and live for Christ. May the 7 baptisms that we will celebrate this Easter Vigil embolden you to recommit yourselves to, as St. Paul reminds us, “stand firm in the Lord.”