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Gospel: John 9: 1-41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered,
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.
We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When he had said this, 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.”
So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He replied,
“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
So I went there and washed and was able to see.”
And they said to him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
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.”
Now the Jews did not believe
that he had been blind and gained his sight
until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.
They asked them,
“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How does he now see?”
His parents answered and said,
“We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
We do not know how he sees now,
nor do we know who opened his eyes.
Ask him, he is of age;
he can speak for himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid
of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,
he would be expelled from the synagogue.
For this reason his parents said,
“He is of age; question him.”
So a second time they called the man who had been blind
and said to him, “Give God the praise!
We know that this man is a sinner.”
He replied,
“If he is a sinner, I do not know.
One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
So they said to him,
“What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?”
He answered them,
“I told you already and you did not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
They ridiculed him and said,
“You are that man’s disciple;
we are disciples of Moses!
We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do not know where this one is from.”
The man answered and said to them,
“This is what is so amazing,
that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners,
but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.
It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.
If this man were not from God,
he would not be able to do anything.”
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,
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
Then Jesus said,
“I came into this world for judgment,
so that those who do not see might see,
and those who do see might become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this
and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”
Jesus said to them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In the 1960’s, a study was completed documenting the journey of individuals, many of them children legally blind from birth, before and after they had cataract surgery. One moment they lived in a world of blurry shadows. The next they could see.
Seeing color, movement, depth, the face of their parents, even their own face for the first time was overwhelming.
Some became self-conscious. Others refused to open their eyes at all. One girl locked herself inside her room for two weeks, preferring life in the darkness, where the world felt simpler and more controllable.
Ironically enough, these patients were faced with the same question after their surgery as they were before: “Do you want to see?”
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals a blind man. This is the only miracle in all of the Gospels where a person is healed who was afflicted from birth.
In the original text, John says the man was blind from his “genesis,” offering a double-meaning. He was not only physically blind; symbolically, he also represents the spiritual blindness of humanity. We are all born unable to see Jesus as Lord.
It’s only after being washed in baptismal waters, when the “mud” is removed from our eyes, that we begin developing “eyes of faith.”
Interestingly, John only dedicates two verses out of this entire chapter to describe the man’s physical healing. John’s focus is not the miracle itself; rather, how people respond to it.
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Prior to the man’s healing, the disciples reveal their own spiritual blindness, asking Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
In the ancient world, people associated suffering with sin. The fact that this man was born blind meant that either his parents sinned and God was punishing them, making their child live in a world of darkness, or somehow he sinned in his mother’s womb.
This idea might sound ridiculous to us today, but how often does God still get the blame when people suffer?
Jesus rebukes the disciples for their ignorance of God and his ways. While he does not explain the mystery of suffering, he does reveal throughout his ministry that the Son of God came to heal, to pardon, to redeem.
And, above all, to lead people back to God.
This is the deeper miracle – one that we can all experience – coming to faith and “seeing” Jesus as Lord.
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Immediately after his healing, the once blind man’s budding faith is tested as the religious authorities put him on trial, questioning how he came to see. Referring to Jesus, the man says, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed. Now I can see.”
So, the authorities question him further. “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?”
The man replies, “He is a prophet.”
In the Old Testament, only prophets performed miracles like healing the sick or calling down fire from heaven.
Enraged, the authorities pull the man’s parents into the dispute, questioning, “Is this your son? How does he now see?”
Afraid of being expelled from the synagogue, they abandon their own son, saying, “Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.”
How heartbreaking! No one rejoices over this man’s healing – no one. Not even his own parents.
After being thrown out of the Temple, Jesus finds the man and leads him deeper into faith, until he comes to worship Jesus as “Lord.”
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Both this man’s sight and his faith come at a cost, begging the question: “Do I want to see?”
Do I want to see Jesus, alive – sometimes thirsty and unwelcome – in my neighbor?
Do I want to see Jesus in this Eucharist, then present in me?
Do I want to see the path God has prepared for me to walk, a path paved by grace, humility, and surrender? Do I want to see my own need for conversion this Lent?
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Like the man born blind, or the children who underwent cataract surgery, sight comes with responsibility.
May accept what we see – Jesus everywhere in this world – and act accordingly.
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Image credits: (1) Light Bearers (2) Independent Catholic News (3) iStock