Blind And Now I See!

Fourth Sunday of Lent  

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Gospel of John 9:1-38

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 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.

Anointing of the Sick   My parish celebrated the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at the early morning mass.  How appropriate considering the gospel reading talks about Jesus giving sight to a blind man since birth.  As each sick parishioner received a blessing, I wondered the nature of the illness. Not everyone coming up to the altar appeared elderly or disabled. Some looked perfectly healthy.  Then I thought:  "How many other people sitting in the pews may be sick but are too embarrassed to stand at the altar? It takes a lot of courage to recognize our own sickness and ask for God's healing!"  

Spit and Clay - Yuck?!   Once the blind man sees, he is asked by people "How are you able to see?"  He's not only asked this question once but several additional times.  I'm sure the poor man found this very annoying!  Why can't these people get it?  Why all the questioning?  Why the drama?  Why can't the people just celebrate the miracle and believe Jesus Christ as the Prophet?  Unfortunately, the blind man's healing only intensified controversy among the Jews and Pharisees. Jesus was stirring up too much dust.

I found this beautiful quote from Saint Thomas Aquinas featured in the book "A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Thomas Aquinas"  by Rev. Paul Keller O.P.  It explains the significance of Jesus using spittle, clay and the pool of Solam to heal the blind man:

Augustine gives the mystical and allegorical explanation.  He says that the spittle, which is saliva that descends from the head, signifies the Word of God, who proceeds from the Father, the head of all things:  "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High" (Sir 24:3).  Therefore, the Lord made clay from the spittle and the earth when the Word was made flesh.  He anointed the eyes of the blind man, that is, of the human race.  And the eyes are the eyes of the heart, anointed by faith in the incarnation of Christ.  But the blind man did not yet see, because the anointing produced a catechumen, who has faith but has not yet been baptized  So he sends him to the pool of Siloam to wash and receive his sight, i.e., to be baptized, and in baptism to receive full enlightenment.

WOW! This makes so much sense to me.  I don't think I will ever read this passage the same way again!  The idea of clay and spit in the eyes sounds pretty disgusting, but the theological significance is quite amazing. How anybody could ever doubt the authenticity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah will always be a mystery and paradox.  The evidence was real and very compelling.  Yet, the enemies of Jesus chose to remain blind and closed-minded. They didn't want to admit that this strange man among them had the power to heal:  A power no follower of Moses could ever possess.  

Are you blind?  Are you blind when it comes to your faith?  Do you question everything about God to the point of failing to listen to the Truth?  Do you like to debate and critique those who believe in God and worship him devoutly?  Don't be like a Pharisee!  Don't turn your back away from God!  He loves you so much.  Yes, he challenges us in life but in ways to make us grow stronger and more resilient. I think about the atheists who love to fuel the fire with nasty comments and outlandish statements on the Internet.  I try to stay away from such filth because I know in my heart these "atheists" could not be possibly happy with their lives.  If they were happy and content without a God wouldn't they leave the religious folks alone?  They are clearly blind to the Gospel truth.  They rather live in darkness attempting to "convert" others into their party of disillusionment, ignorance, and negativity.  Christ is a bright light that will always circumvent darkness.  People can choose to acknowledge God seeing the light or they can choose to push away God remaining blind in the dark.  It's a choice.  I pray the people will choose to see and believe.  

-J.