Dear Parishioners,
Only the Blind Can See
Blindness deprives a person of the physical ability to see, but there is a type of blindness that can deprive us from seeing things as God wants us to see them.
The gospel opens with a man born blind from birth. This man was well known in his town. Jesus just happens to see him as He was passing through. Immediately, Jesus makes a paste from the mud on the ground and smears clay on the eyes of the blind man. One can only imagine what was going through the man’s mind. He may have thought: “Who is the person putting mud on my eyes, and why would he do such a thing?” Jesus offers no explanation but simply tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. It happened to be the Sabbath. The man did as Jesus told him and miraculously, the blind man could see!!!
When the man returned to his village, the townspeople questioned whether he was the same man who used to sit and beg. So they decided to ask the Pharisees. The Pharisees, aware that this had taken place on the Sabbath, said that no one from God would ever consider curing a man on the Sabbath. They continued to question the man as to who cured him, and the man continued to tell them exactly what had happened. Frustrated, the Pharisees eventually threw the man out of the town.
The Pharisees continue to be blind to the ways of the Lord. They failed to “see” through the eyes of Jesus and in doing so, they deprived themselves of seeing the miracle that can only come from God.
When Jesus met up with the ousted man, He revealed himself to him. In the end, this blind man not only received the ability to physically see, he also received the ability to recognize the Messiah and believe! Let us always try to see as Jesus would see.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Lito