1 As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 6 He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, 7 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.
8 His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” 13 They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
14 Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15 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.” 16 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. 17 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.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshipped him.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.
think: Like the blind man in today’s Gospel, when did you first “see” Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
KERYGMA REFLECTION
Jesus explains that children will have to bear the sufferings and consequences of the sins of their parents. The effects of sin can be far reaching and affect relatives and friends but this is not the result of a law. Sin is evil and unjust and can affect others.
CURE TO OUR SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS
Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD
While walking along the streets of Jerusalem, Jesus meets a common sight: a disabled person begging for alms. What else is the poor man to do? He has been blind from birth, so employment opportunities were zero. He cannot see, but he can speak. So he cries out for assistance. The disciples use the opportunity to pose to Jesus a problem which the Jewish had always been deeply concerned, and which is still a problem today. The Jews believed that suffering is a punishment for sin. So they asked Jesus, “This man, is his blindness due to his own sin, or to the sin of his parents?”
Jesus is much more interested in solving the problem than analyzing it. But the action He takes is strange, to say the least. He could have simply gathered a crowd, given a speech, and then uttered the dramatic command: “Be healed.” He did it this way with others. But no, He spat on the dirt, made a paste of mud, and smeared it on the eyes of the poor man, commanding him to wash off the paste in the Pool of Siloam.
Why do we read this strange Gospel on a Sunday of Lent? The early Christians saw physical blindness as a metaphor for the spiritual blindness which prevents people from recognizing Jesus. This story testifies, therefore, to the power of Jesus to heal not just the blindness of the eye but, above all, the blindness of the heart.
From earliest times, this story has been associated with baptism. The whole Lenten liturgy was a preparation for candidates who would be baptized during the Easter Vigil. We still renew on Easter our baptismal promises and the Lenten liturgy wants us to become aware once more what our baptism was all about.
Just as the blind man went down into the waters of Siloam and came up whole, so also we who were immersed in the waters of baptism came out spiritually whole, totally healed of the blindness with which we were born. For, like the blind man in the Gospel, we are all born blind — spiritually, that is.
Reflection Question:
Do you recognize the blind spots in your faith? Lord, even though healed in baptism, I feel that sin has made me spiritually blind in some areas of my faith.
Heal me, Lord, as You healed the blind man in Jerusalem. Amen.
