My Dear Friends,
In today’s gospel, Jesus cures a blind beggar. The Lord “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 (John 9:6-7).” Many years ago, I heard a homily on this gospel from a priest who was just starting a new online evangelization ministry. It was Father Robert Barron who many of you know is now a bishop. In his homily he alluded to St. Augustine’s teaching on Jesus’ actions to cure the blind man. This spittle coming from the mouth of Jesus evokes his divinity, for everything that comes from the mouth of the Living Word gives life, and the mud from the earth represent Jesus’ humanity. The two natures, human and divine, come together to re-create this beggar and bring him his sight. Jesus sends him to the pool which means “Sent” and the good bishop notes that this pool symbolizes baptism and the blind man is totally immersed by “the One who was sent” by immersing himself in this pool. Just like St. Paul told us to “put on Christ,” this blind man is immersed in the light of the Lord.
Towards the end of the gospel, Jesus seeks the blind man out when the Pharisees throw him out of the temple. There is so much going on here. Jesus immerses this man in his light and then seeks him out to reveal to him that he is the Son of Man and that he is looking straight into his eyes. Amazing! The poor beggar goes from not seeing a thing to gazing upon the beautiful face of our Lord. Jesus seeking this man out after he was rejected reminds us that God always goes in search of the ones the world pays no attention to. In the first reading, when Samuel goes to find the next king of Israel at Jesse’s house, appearances are deceiving because the strongest and most handsome of Jesse’s sons aren’t the chosen ones, but the youngest, David, is the one chosen by God to be a king.
Our God, thankfully, does not use human criteria to choose us and find us acceptable or pleasing. “God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).” Unfortunately, sin clouds our eyes, and we go around and judge those who are beautiful or ugly or tall or small or too skinny or too fat. We too often judge by appearances and don’t look into a person’s heart. We do this unconsciously every time we go up to the supermarket check-out and start skimming through the magazines that obsess about what celebrities have gained weight, lost weight, how they look in swim wear, how they look in certain outfits at awards shows, and “who wore it best.” Our culture trains us from early on to look suspiciously on those who look different and to admire fine physical beauty. Yet our Lord looks past that. Far too often in my years dealing with middle school girls, and some boys too, I would have to counsel these teenagers through great self-esteem crises as they found themselves not pretty enough or good enough. I would always remind them that we are all beautiful in God’s eyes. We are all his children. This is how He sees us, and this is how we should see each other.
So, what blinds you? What is preventing you from the seeing the glorious face of our Lord like the blind beggar did? And what is preventing you from seeing Christ in your brothers and sisters? Pray that we may be able to see each other the way God sees us.
God Bless You All,
