![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aleteiaen.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/beggar.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHe went back outside. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d he said to the beggar.\u00a0 \u201cDo I know you?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d the beggar said.\u00a0 \u201cI think you do.\u201d\u00a0 It turns out, the beggar had been in the seminary with him. He had been ordained a priest, but had \u2013 as he put it \u2014 \u201ccrashed and burned\u201d in his vocation.<\/p>\n
The priest from New York talked with him for a few minutes, and then had to go.\u00a0 He promised the beggar that he would pray for him.\u00a0\u00a0 But he was shaken by what he had seen.<\/p>\n
That afternoon, this priest attended a function that concluded with a chance to meet the pope.\u00a0 As he stood in a receiving line and took John Paul\u2019s hand, he told him about the man he\u2019d met outside the church and whispered,\u00a0 \u201cPlease, pray for this man, because he\u2019s lost.\u201d\u00a0 The pope nodded and assured him he would.<\/p>\n
The next day, to his amazement, the priest got a call from the Pope\u2019s secretary.\u00a0 The Holy Father, he said, was hosting a dinner and wanted to invite the priest, along with the other priest, the beggar.\u00a0 Stunned, the priest agreed, and quickly went back to the Church and found the beggar and told him what had happened.<\/p>\n
The beggar said, \u201cNo, I can\u2019t.\u201d The priest insisted, and promised to make him presentable.\u00a0 He took the man to his room, where he was able to take a shower, and shave put on some clean clothes.<\/p>\n
Then they went to dinner with the Pope \u2013 surely, the best meal the man had enjoyed in months. Just before desert, the Holy Father asked everyone else to leave the room, so he could be alone with the beggar.\u00a0\u00a0 They did, and waited outside.\u00a0 After about 15 minutes, they were invited back into the dining room.\u00a0 Shortly after that, they all said goodnight, and the beggar and the priest walked back to the hotel.<\/p>\n
The priest said: \u201cI have to ask you: what happened in there?\u201d<\/p>\n
And the beggar stopped in his tracks, still amazed at the experience. \u201cHe asked me,\u201d the man said, \u201cto hear his confession.\u00a0 I said to him, \u2018But I\u2019m not a priest anymore.\u00a0 I\u2019m a beggar.\u2019\u00a0 And the Holy Father took my hands in his and looked at me and said, \u2018So am I.\u00a0 We are all beggars before the Lord.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The man tried to explain that he was not in good standing with the Church. But the pope said: \u201cOnce a priest, always a priest.\u00a0 I\u2019m the Vicar of Christ and the Bishop of Rome. I can re-instate you now. \u201d<\/p>\n
Well, the beggar couldn\u2019t refuse. \u00a0And at that moment, in that room, he heard the confession of the pope.<\/p>\n
The beggar-priest had barely finished offering absolution before he dropped to his knees in tears.\u00a0 \u201cHoly Father,\u201d he said, \u201cwill you please hear my Confession?\u201d\u00a0 And he did.<\/p>\n
When they were done, the pope told him to return to the Church where he had been begging, and report to the pastor.\u00a0 He would serve as a priest there, with a special ministry to the poor of Rome.<\/p>\n
And that is what happened. It is said that the beggar who heard the pope\u2019s confession still serves at the church in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all beggars,\u201d the pope said.\u00a0 Like the man in today\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 So, this Lent, ask yourself: what am I begging for?\u00a0 Maybe we are begging for compassion.\u00a0 For mercy.\u00a0 For peace of mind.\u00a0 Maybe we are hungry for love.\u00a0 And like the beggar in the gospel, we may also be blind \u2013 craving clarity, and understanding.\u00a0 Wanting simply to see.<\/p>\n
But in the middle of our begging, in the middle of our darkness, Christ touches us \u2014 and our world is flooded with light.<\/p>\n
This gospel is about discovery.\u00a0 One man receives the gift of sight.\u00a0 As the story unfolds, light dawns, and with each confrontation and each conversation, he gains more understanding of just who gave him that gift.\u00a0 At the end, for the first time, he sees \u2014 really<\/em> sees.<\/p>\nI think the priest-beggar was also given the gift of sight \u2013 the ability to see anew who he was and what he was meant to do.\u00a0 Whether he realized it or not, he was begging for more than money.<\/p>\n
He was begging for grace.<\/p>\n
But aren\u2019t we all?<\/p>\n
This morning, we pray for the grace to see more clearly, to understand more deeply, to live more faithfully.\u00a0 And we join our prayers in a special way with those of the elect before us, the men and women of the RCIA process.\u00a0 Together, we come before God, hands outstretched, asking to have our hungers satisfied, our yearnings fulfilled \u2013 asking God to give us what He knows we need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all beggars before the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nIn these final weeks of Lent, let us pray to be open to what He has to give \u2013 to let Him touch us, and flood our lives with light.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact, involving Pope John Paul. Several years ago, a priest from the Archdiocese of New York was visiting Rome. As he was walking into a church to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"yoast_head":"\n
Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aleteiaen.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/beggar.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/\",\"name\":\"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent","description":"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent","og_description":"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/aleteiaen.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/beggar.jpeg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/","name":"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-02T09:46:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"Today\u2019s gospel begins with an encounter between Christ and a blind beggar.\u00a0 So I want to start off with a story of another beggar \u2013 a story, in fact,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/04\/homily-for-april-3-2011-4th-sunday-of-lent-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Homily for April 3, 2011: 4th Sunday of Lent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}