S1 E11: Climbing God's Ladder

Transcript

Carol Vassar:

From SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut, I'm Carol Vassar, and this is Living in Faith, Hope, and Love. Each week, our Pastor, Father Mark Suslenko, delves into Scripture, shares insights from the saints, prophets, and theologians, and discusses practical ways to cultivate faith, strengthen hope, and embody love in the world around us. Through his reflections and spiritual encouragement, this podcast aims to inspire you to live your Catholic faith with joy and purpose. Welcome. 

How’s it going for you as you move through Lent toward the celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday? Are your Lenten disciplines bringing you closer to God? That’s the question Father Mark poses on this Laetare Sunday as he reflects on the story of the blind man whose sight is restored by Jesus, as recounted in today’s Gospel reading from John, Chapter 9, verses 1, 6-9, 13-17 and 34-38:  

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent. So he went and washed and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is, “but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” 

 They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So, then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again,  “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.

The Gospel of the Lord

“Climbing God’s Ladder,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

Father Mark Suslenko:

The rose-colored investments used at Mass today remind us that on this fourth Sunday of Lent, the church calls us to stop and celebrate Laetare Sunday. Laetare, in Latin, means to rejoice, and we stop and change things up a bit because, as we hasten through this time of Lent, we can see now on the horizon the victory of the resurrection of Christ, when Christ conquers not only sin but also death. And it is a time of great joy and delight.  

It's also an opportunity for us to pause a bit and take stock in how our Lents are going. Let's assume that everyone here today has either chosen to give something up for Lent, embrace a new discipline or habit in life that they didn't do before, spend some more time in prayer, or do some charitable works. Whatever way you choose to participate in this year's Lent, how is it going for you? Are you noticing any changes in your life in the way you feel and how you see?  

One of the great images we can use to illustrate the season of Lent and what happens during this powerful time is the image of a ladder. 

Consider yourself for a moment, climbing the ladder of life. It's the ladder you've always known: a ladder that brings you one day into the next as you continue to climb up. This ladder of life. Below you is nothing, but behind you is another ladder. We can call that the ladder of God.  

So, here you are on the ladder of life, climbing and climbing, and the season of Lent comes, or perhaps for those seeking baptism

who are with us today, a moment of insight comes that tells you to let go of that ladder and change things up and do things a bit differently.  

Now, as you make that decision to let go of that ladder you've been climbing all along, there are really three choices before you.  You can certainly let go and just simply fall to wherever you fall below, but I think most of us are smart enough not to do that. Or you can let go, and then allow anxieties and fears to creep in, and cause you to hesitate, and you cling back onto that ladder that you've always known. Or you can let go and grab onto the ladder behind you, which is the ladder of God. 

And so, in terms of our Lent in disciplines, whatever we choose to do, where are you in that scenario of ladders?  Do you find yourself just coasting through Lent, giving up the thing you gave up, doing the disciplines you've done only to come to Easter, experience some anxiety or fear, and simply grab back onto that ladder at the same place you were before Lent even began, afraid to let go, afraid to grab on to something new? Or are you allowing your Lenten disciplines to truly change you? To release you from what you've been doing before and bring you to a place that is different, a place that has changed, a place that opens your eyes and gives you a vision that you never had before, a place that brings you to where God is, that allows you to see the world around you with the sparkle of God's love and life. That allows you to see yourself differently, where your life is going, what is ultimately important and where you want to be. A ladder that allows you to see your relationship with others differently, to give you a new and renewed, profound respect for human life, maybe allowing you to be a little bit more empathetic, a little bit more compassionate, a little bit more willing to take what Jesus says about forgiveness and actually give it a shot and do it in your life.  

 You see, the blind man in today's Gospel had to leave the ladder he was on, and venture to the ladder that Jesus showed him in that pool of water. He took the risk. He didn't know whether that journey, which I'm sure for someone who is blind, was not all that easy, plunging into those new waters. It gave him new sight and new vision. And that's really what our season of Lent is about as well: to give us new sight and new vision, a new vision and sight that we didn't have when we first started on this journey, clinging to our old ladders 40 days ago.  

When we do cling to God's ladder, we realize that we found exactly what we were looking for all along: that presence of pure love in our souls, which really is all that really matters when it comes right down to it. 

Carol Vassar:

Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. If you like what you've heard today, please subscribe to Living in Faith, Hope, and Love on your favorite podcast app and take a moment to leave a review.

SS. Isidore and Maria is an active parish community, so whether you’re a long-time parishioner or are just getting to know us through this podcast, we welcome you to join us at Masses or any of our other community events and services. Visit our parish website - isidoreandmaria.org - for a full schedule of Masses, services, and other happenings. That's isidoreandmaria.org. We're also active on Facebook and Instagram.

On behalf of Father Mark, I'm Carol Vassar, and we thank you for listening to this episode of Living in Faith, Hope, and Love.