First Reading: (1 Samuel 16:7, 12–13)
Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 23)
Response: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Second Reading: (Ephesians 5:8, 11, 14)
Acclamation: (John 8:12)
“I am the light of the world,” says the Lord; “whoever follows me will have the light of life.”
Reflection:
Among the many lessons in today’s Gospel, one stands out clearly. Some may find it strange that Jesus used saliva and earth to make clay, placed it on the man’s eyes with his own fingers, and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. After all, Jesus could have simply snapped his fingers and healed the man instantly. Yet he chose a more tangible and personal approach.
In ancient times saliva was believed to have life-giving healing properties. But even more importantly, through this method the blind man experienced the personal touch of Jesus Christ. He heard his voice, felt his hands, and actively participated in God’s saving action.
Christ communicated God’s grace in a way adapted to human nature, engaging both body and spirit. He always worked not from a distance but up close and personal. His touch inspired hope and confidence, turning the miracle into a personal encounter rather than a mere display of power.
The Church continues this same pattern today through the sacraments. The priest’s words of absolution at the end of confession give real closure to our longing for forgiveness. The water of baptism, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, and the chrism of confirmation are tangible signs that express God’s desire to reach out and touch us. Since we are not purely spiritual beings, it is fitting that we encounter God through physical realities.
Christ saves human nature by redeeming it, not destroying it.
Many people become frustrated with God, wishing he would instantly solve the world’s problems. Some even point to injustice and suffering as evidence against God’s existence. They argue that if God were real, he would not allow such suffering. But this is a superficial argument.
Faced with injustice, God has two options. He could destroy the world and start over, wiping out every sinner. But that would include all of us, even those guilty of the smallest selfish thought. Instead, God chooses another path: he offers salvation. He invites us to cooperate with him in saving the world. This takes longer, but it gives sinners a second chance.
God is always at work, most often through ordinary people and events, never violating our freedom.
The American writer Whitaker Chambers, who exposed communist spies during the Cold War, once described how his atheism began to crumble. One morning he watched his young daughter at breakfast. His gaze fell upon her ears, and he marveled at their intricate design. In that moment he realized such perfection must come from an intelligent creator. There were no fireworks, no dramatic miracles, just God quietly reaching him through human reality.
The Church asks us to go to confession at least once a year if we are conscious of mortal sin, but she recommends going much more often. Christ does not want us to experience forgiveness vaguely or from afar. He knows we need a real encounter with mercy.
That is why confession is sometimes called the sacrament of regained joy.
Lent is a season of penance and repentance. But Christian penance does not end in sadness. It leads to deeper communion with God. Jesus suffered on the cross and took upon himself the punishment for our sins so that we might find in him a new beginning and unconditional forgiveness.
Today Christ renews that promise through the sacraments and through Holy Communion. As we receive him, let us give him the joy of being our Good Shepherd, allowing him to heal and renew our souls through the grace of reconciliation and the light of his presence.
The passage John 9:6–7, 35–38 is one of the most theologically rich healing stories in the Gospel of John. It is not only about a physical miracle but about creation, baptism, faith, and spiritual enlightenment. Below are the major theological themes.
1. Jesus as the Creator: The Clay and New Creation
In the miracle, Jesus spits on the ground, makes clay, and places it on the man’s eyes.
This action intentionally echoes Genesis, where God forms humanity from the dust of the earth. The symbolism suggests that Jesus is performing a new act of creation, restoring what was broken in humanity.
Theologically this means:
Humanity was created from dust (clay).
Sin brought spiritual blindness.
Christ recreates the human person, restoring sight.
So the miracle is not merely healing; it shows that Christ has divine creative power.
2. The Pool of Siloam: “The One Who Is Sent”
Jesus tells the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam, and John specifically explains that Siloam means “Sent.” (
This detail is deeply symbolic.
In John’s Gospel:
Jesus repeatedly calls himself the One sent by the Father.
The blind man must go to the pool called “Sent” to receive sight.
The message is theological:
The one who was “sent” (Jesus) sends the blind man to “Sent” (Siloam).
This reinforces that:
Jesus is the Messiah sent by God.
Healing and salvation come through the One sent by the Father.
3. The Washing as a Symbol of Baptism
Many Christian theologians interpret the washing in Siloam as a symbol of baptism.
The pattern mirrors Christian initiation:
Encounter Christ
Obey His command
Wash in water
Receive spiritual sight
The water symbolizes purification and illumination through faith.
Thus the story represents how:
Baptism opens the eyes of faith.
Christ moves a person from darkness to light.
4. Physical Blindness vs. Spiritual Blindness
A major theme in the chapter is contrast.
The man who was physically blind ends up seeing spiritually, while the religious leaders who claim to see are actually blind.
The progression is powerful:
| Stage | What the Man Says About Jesus |
|---|---|
| At first | “The man called Jesus” |
| Later | “He is a prophet” |
| Finally | “Lord, I believe” |
Meanwhile the Pharisees move in the opposite direction, from questioning to rejection.
This reveals a core message of John’s Gospel:
Faith gives sight; pride produces blindness.
5. Faith Leads to Worship
The climax is John 9:38:
“Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
This moment is crucial.
The healed man does three things:
Recognizes Jesus
Believes in Him
Worships Him
In Jewish theology, worship belongs only to God.
By accepting worship, the passage strongly points to the divinity of Christ.
6. Jesus as the Light of the World
Earlier in the chapter Jesus declares:
“I am the light of the world.”
The miracle illustrates this claim.
The blind man moves from:
Darkness → Light
Ignorance → Faith
Isolation → Worship
The miracle becomes a living sign of salvation.
7. Obedience and Faith
Another theological point is obedience.
Jesus does not heal him instantly.
Instead, the man must go, wash, and trust the command.
His healing comes through obedience
This reflects a biblical principle:
Faith is not only belief but action.
Summary of the Theology
This passage reveals multiple layers of meaning:
Creation: Jesus recreates humanity like God forming Adam.
Mission: The “Sent One” brings salvation.
Baptism: Washing symbolizes spiritual rebirth.
Faith: True sight comes through belief.
Divinity of Christ: The healed man worships Jesus.
Spiritual blindness: Religious pride prevents seeing truth.
In short:
The man receives two miracles, physical sight and spiritual.
Lent, you know, is bringing us through spiritual basic training, so it’s really important for us to pay attention to these marvelous stories.
This week: the man born blind.
Next week: Lazarus.
Last week: the woman at the well.
These great stories from the Gospel of John are meant to help us identify with each of these people, with the woman at the well, the man born blind, and then with Lazarus. They’re all talking about the dynamics of the spiritual life.
So let me just share a few insights from this incomparably rich story that’s beguiled Christians up and down the centuries.
Right at the beginning it says:
Jesus passed by and saw a man blind from birth.
So his disciples asked him:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Listen now to the answer of Jesus:
“Neither he nor his parents sinned. It is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
We see suffering every day, of course.
Why did this happen?
How could God possibly have allowed this horrible thing to happen, to my husband, to me, to our family?
And the poor priest says, “Let me share a parable with you.” He tells a story, and he gives that answer of Jesus:
“It’s not because of his sin or anyone’s sin. It’s that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
You know, we all suffer in different degrees, I get it, but we all suffer, and we’re always looking for the answer:
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why is God allowing this?
Let this answer, everybody, sink in.
When you’re going through some terrible suffering, it may be that the works of God might be made visible in you. Somehow, God is using this struggle, this difficulty, this pain for His purposes.
Now, what do we see as this story unfolds?
Jesus declares Himself the Light of the World, one of the great “I AM” statements in John. I’ve told you about these before:
I am the Bread of Life.
I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the Resurrection and the Life.
These echo the “I AM WHO I AM” from the Book of Exodus. Jesus is asserting His divine identity and authority.
In this case:
“I am the Light of the World.”
Beautiful.
He is the one by whom we see properly.
And here’s the point: we’re dealing with a man born blind.
Some people become blind later in life. But this man is blind from birth. He’s never seen. From the beginning of his life he’s been in the dark.
Do you see what he stands for?
Our great tradition has said: original sin.
That’s all of us. We’re all men and women born blind.
We’re born into a dysfunctional world, spiritually speaking. It’s like someone born into a household where there’s physical abuse, sexual abuse, drug abuse, something that affects everyone. The whole environment is damaged.
Well, that’s the human race.
We’re born into a world infected by cruelty, violence, hatred, and everything else. We breathe it in. We take it in from the time we’re born. And it blinds us.
It takes us out of the light.
But Jesus says:
“I am the Light of the World.”
He has come to illumine and heal the blind eyes of all of us born blind in original sin.
So identify with this man.
Now what does Jesus do?
After saying this, the Gospel tells us:
He spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on the man’s eyes.
Kind of peculiar, right?
Was He mimicking some healing practices of the time? Maybe. But with Jesus, especially as John tells the story, there’s always something richly theological going on.
St. Augustine noticed something fascinating.
The saliva comes from the mouth, from the head, and it mixes with the earth, the clay. Augustine said this symbolizes the Incarnation, the Word of God becoming flesh. God’s spirit mixing, as it were, with matter.
And what does that produce?
It produces a salve.
Imagine Jesus taking this mud in His hands. He’s got this salve that He rubs into the man’s eyes.
The word salve in English is closely related to the Latin salus, which means health. When you greeted someone with the wish of good health, you would say:
Salve!
We have that great hymn:
Salve Regina, Hail Holy Queen.
Who is Jesus?
He is the Savior. From the Latin Salvator.
Same root.
He is the healer par excellence.
His very being, the coming together of divinity and humanity, functions as a healing balm, a healing salve. It’s as though Jesus Himself is being rubbed into the man’s blind eyes.
What does that look like for us?
The sacraments of the Church.
What are they? Just vague symbols?
No. They are the means by which God’s grace is communicated to us, body and soul.
We speak of the matter and the form of a sacrament.
Think of:
Baptism: water + the words
Confession: the absolution + the words
Confirmation: oil + the words
The sacraments are the prolongation of the very being and presence of Christ, rubbed like a salve into our sin-sick bodies and souls.
How do we come to see, we who are blind from birth?
Not through the lights provided by the world. Those are more obscuring than illuminating.
No. We come to see by the light of Christ. We are healed through contact with Him.
So think of that, Catholics. Next time you receive one of the sacraments, think of that mud paste, that salve, that Jesus rubs into the man’s eyes. That’s what the sacraments are doing for us.
Then Jesus says:
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam.”
And John adds:
“which means Sent.”
The Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem was a place of cleansing and bathing. But the fact that it means “Sent” is important.
One of the great descriptions of Jesus in John’s Gospel is that He is the One who has been sent.
Jesus constantly refers to the Father as “the One who sent me.”
So to bathe in the Pool of Siloam, what is that?
It’s baptism.
It’s being washed in Christ.
Baptism is not just a vague symbol. It is the means by which we are incorporated into Christ. We come to share His relationship with the Father.
So the salve, the sacraments, the Pool of Siloam, what’s being described here is how all of us born blind in sin are brought to healing and vision through immersion in Christ, mediated by the sacraments.
That’s how the Church Fathers read this great text.
Now listen to what happens.
He went and washed, and he came back able to see.
Is this a physical healing? Yes, absolutely. Jesus healed people physically. They remembered this story.
But with Jesus, everything operates at different levels. There’s a physical level, and then there’s the richly symbolic and spiritual level.
How do we come to see?
How do I know where I’m going?
Don’t follow the false lights of the world.
Wash in the Pool of Siloam. Receive the sacraments. Be immersed in Jesus.
There are so many great details in this story.
Imagine the man, someone who has never seen and now suddenly can see. He comes back overwhelmed. And the people don’t know what to make of it.
Some say:
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Others say:
“No, it just looks like him.”
I love that detail.
Because when you come to Christ and you’re changed by Him, you don’t look the same. You don’t act the same.
People might say:
“Is that the same guy? No way.”
Of course not. He’s been transformed and transfigured by Christ.
Then the man says something fascinating.
Some say it’s him; others say it’s not. And the man says, in Greek:
Ego eimi.
“I am.”
On the surface, he’s just saying, “Yes, it’s me.”
But in John’s Gospel we can’t miss that phrase. Jesus says it again and again:
“I am. I am. I am.”
Why? Because He is the Son of God, I AM WHO I AM.
And here’s the extraordinary thing.
When we are grafted onto Christ in baptism, and through the sacraments, we share in His life. We become conformed to Him. We begin to see with His eyes, think with His mind, and move as He would move.
“I am.”
We become identified with Him.
I also love what happens next in John’s Gospel.
This marvelous thing has happened, the man was born blind and now he sees.
And what’s the reaction?
The crowd isn’t happy.
They say:
“How did this happen?”
“Who does this guy think he is?”
“Wasn’t this the wrong day to do it?”
I get it, because I know what the fallen world is like.
A miracle of grace happens, and the reaction is negative.
Why?
Because it’s in the interest of blind people to keep other people blind.
Blind systems, blind institutions, blind cultures, they want to keep everyone blind.
It’s like Plato’s famous parable of the cave. If someone escapes and starts seeing the truth, the others don’t like it.
So don’t be surprised when you come to Christ and He changes you so much that people hardly recognize you. Don’t be surprised if they oppose you.
Even the man’s poor parents get dragged into the controversy. They’re afraid of the authorities.
But how does the story end?
The formerly blind man encounters Jesus again.
Jesus asks him:
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man says:
“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
Jesus replies:
“You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”
And the man worships Him.
Not just thanks Him.
Not just admires Him.
He worships Him.
That’s the goal.
The problem in the world is always false worship. Our blindness leads us to worship the wrong things.
But when we are healed by Christ, when we are baptized in the Pool of Siloam, when the sacraments are rubbed into us, when we are conformed to the I AM, then we finally know:
where we’re going
what we’re about
And we bow down and worship the One who gave us light and vision.
God bless you.
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