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.
Reflection for March
26, Fourth Sunday of Lent; John 9:1-41
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Reflection:
Imagine yourself being
blind, you see nothing except darkness then suddenly you are able to see. How
would you feel about it? Of course you would feel indescribable joy because
you’re now able to appreciate the beauty of your surroundings.
This was how the
blind man must have felt when his blindness was cured by Jesus. He felt an overwhelming
joy that he never felt before in his entire life. Aside from the physical
blindness the man was also healed from his spiritual blindness.
But why did Jesus
heal the blind man in the first place? This is for the reason that Jesus found
faith and humility in this blind man. Jesus would have not healed him if he did
not have faith and humility.
Jesus saw something that is not visible
through the naked eye. Jesus saw that in the hearts of heart of this blind man
lies the two golden virtues which are faith and humility. This is what is oftentimes
lacking within us that is why we don’t receive what we pray for.
Does this mean that
this blind man had been praying for healing long before Jesus saw him? Yes! He
had been praying so that he would be cured of his blindness, praying with faith
and praying with humility.
Do you have faith in
the Lord Jesus? Faith that is very much willing to abandon yourself upon the
mercy and goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you have humility? Humility to follow
without question what the Lord tells you?
Let us pray for
healing regarding our lack of faith and let us pray for healing regarding our
lack of humility. – Marino J. Dasmarinas