Kaitha 3rdS,July 25,10

Kaitha 3^rd S,July25,10

(Jn.9:1-12,35-38)

Cardinal Newman on his way to England after a visit to Italy wrote the famous poem, “Lead, kindly Light,” asking God to guide him as he was making plans to begin the Oxford Movement which would later culminate in his conversion to the Catholic Faith. Like Cardinal Newman, we too have often prayed to God for guidance and wisdom in many of the important phases of our life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of himself as the Light of the world. As long as we walk in the daylight of his Divine Splendor, we know, we are taken care of and that the dark alleys of our lives will always be illumined by His presence.

Today’s Gospel is a great revelation of the Light of God coming into the life of a man born blind at birth.

St. John’s Gospel is one of great literary themes and symbols. Several layers of meanings are packed together in each episode or event. The early part of the Gospel is even termed as the book of Signs, spanning over the first twelve chapters, where the Evangelist shows how Jesus reveals his Divinity through different signs—miraculous deeds.

The healing of the blind man is a great study of contrasts between light and darkness, between faith and unbelief and between physical vision and spiritual blindness.

At the pool of Siloam, Jesus sees the man born blind from birth. Dispelling the notion existing among the people that such sicknesses are caused by one’s sins, Jesus uses the occasion to show mercy and compassion of God. After anointing his eyes with clay, Jesus asks him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, reminding the disciples, thus, of a similar event that took place in 2 Kings 5:1 where Naaman, the Syrian general was told by the prophet Elisha to take a dip in the waters of the Jordan for his cure from leprosy.

The pool of Siloam was a reservoir built inside the walls of Jerusalem to store the water that came from a natural spring. King Hezekiah in the 8^th C.B.C. built a channel to carry this water to the city. The Hebrew meaning of the word is: “sent.” In a way, the event also implies that salvation, healing, faith comes through ones’ relationship with Jesus, the one who is sent by God.

“Church tradition has seen this miracle as a symbol of the sacrament of baptism, in which water is used to cleanse the soul and give the light of faith. According to St. Augustine, “ this blind man represents the human race…..he washed his eyes in the pool whose name means ‘who has been sent’. He was baptized in Christ.”

St. Thomas Aquinas too has a similar interpretation: “He sent the man to the pool called the pool of Siloam, to be cleansed and to be enlightened, that is, to be baptized and receive in baptism full enlightenment.”

We see a paradoxical phenomenon in this miracle. As the blind man makes step by step progress in his spiritual growth, we see the Pharisees moving in the opposite direction , falling more and more into the abyss of spiritual darkness.

For the blind man, first, Jesus was a man, and then a prophet and later, the Son of God, worthy of worship. His blindness is totally over. He is spiritually and physically capable of seeing. He commits himself to Jesus. He is ready to say: “I do believe.” The Pharisees, on the other hand, are given evidences of the divinity of Jesus first, by the blind man, and later, by the neighbors and the parents. Even though they are endowed with physical vision, they are spiritually blind. Their spiritual blindness reaches to such a great extent that they try to cast the blind man out of the society. Actually, through their action, they cast themselves out of the real society, the society of God. Instead of seeing in the event the presence of God and thus opening their eyes to the real Light, they choose to become spiritually blind. Instead of gaining faith, they fall into unbelief.

This should be an eye opener for us. We think we see. But in the practices of the faith , many a time, we are like the Pharisees ; we are spiritually blind. We are not open to the grace of God and do not allow ourselves to be washed by the waters of grace.

Our arrogance, our pride, and our abusive behavior to one another are all symptoms of our spiritual blindness.

We have to move from our spiritual blindness, from being persons who do not value and appreciate the services of others to becoming appreciative of others, from being selfish to generous attitudes, from closeness to openness, and from a lethargic faith to a fervent practice of faith.

May the Lord give us the grace to undergo such a spiritual transformation.