At that time, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, smeared it on the blind man’s eyes and said: “Go wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Envoy).”
He went, washed, and came back with sight. And the neighbors and those who used to see him ask for alms before would ask: “Isn’t that the one who sat down to beg?”
Some said: “The same.”
Others said: “It’s not him, but it looks like him.”
He would reply, “It’s me.”
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. It was Saturday the day that Jesus made clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees also asked him how he had acquired sight.
He answered them: “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
Some of the Pharisees commented: “This man does not come from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others replied: “How can a sinner make such signs?”
And they were divided. And they asked the blind man again: “And you, what do you say about the one who opened your eyes?”
He replied: “That he is a prophet.”
They replied: “You were born stupid from head to toe, and are you going to give us lessons?”
And they expelled him.
When Jesus heard that he had been expelled, he found him and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He answered: “And who is he, Lord, that I believe in him?”
Jesus said to him: “You are seeing him: the one who is speaking to you is the one.”
He said, “I believe, Lord.” And she prostrated herself before him.
Lord’s word
let’s flex together
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, it is a special day to rest a bit from penitential practices and remember where we are going, towards Easter, on this occasion the gospel presents the man blind from birth. Neither he nor his parents are to blame, but his fate will be marked forever. People look at him as a sinner punished by God. The disciples of Jesus ask him if the sin is from the blind man or from his parents.
Jesus looks at it differently. Since he has seen him, he only thinks of rescuing him from that miserable life of a beggar, despised by all as a sinner. He feels called by God to defend, welcome and heal precisely those who live excluded and humiliated.
After a laborious cure in which he too had to collaborate with Jesus, the blind man discovers the light for the first time. The encounter with Jesus has changed his life. He will finally be able to enjoy a dignified life, without fear of being ashamed in front of anyone.
You are wrong. Religious leaders feel compelled to control the purity of religion. They know who is not a sinner and who is in sin. They will decide if you can be accepted into the religious community.
The cured beggar openly confesses that it was Jesus who approached him and cured him, but the Pharisees angrily reject him: “We know that this man is a sinner.” The man insists on defending Jesus: he is a prophet, he comes from God. The Pharisees can’t stand it: “You were born foolish from head to toe, and are you going to give us lessons?”
The evangelist says that “when Jesus heard that he had been expelled, he went to meet him.” The dialogue is short. When Jesus asks him if he believes in the Messiah, the expelled says: “And who is he, Lord, that I believe in him?” Jesus responds moved: he is not far from you. “You are seeing it; the one who is speaking to you, that is”. The beggar says: “I believe, Lord.”
So is Jesus. He always comes to meet those who are not officially accepted by religion. He does not abandon those who seek him and love him even if they are excluded from religious communities and institutions. Those who have no place in our churches have a privileged place in their hearts.
Who will take this message of Jesus today to those groups that, at any moment, listen to unjust public condemnations of blind religious leaders; who approach Christian celebrations afraid of being recognized; that they cannot communicate peacefully in our Eucharists; who are forced to live their faith in Jesus in the silence of his heart, almost secretly and clandestinely? Unknown friends, don’t forget: when we Christians reject you, Jesus is welcoming you. Jose Antonio Pagola