While it is day we must do the work of the One who sent me; for the night will come when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As Jesus said this, he made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man.
Then he said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This word means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see.
His neighbors, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?”
Some said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”
Then they asked him, “How is it, that your eyes were opened?” And he answered, “The man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes and said to me,
‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” They asked, “Where is he?” and the man answered, “I don’t know.”
The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes.
The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “That man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?”
They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet!”
After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents and asked them,
“Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, how is it, that he now sees?” The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind;
but how it is that he now sees, we don’t know, neither do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”
The parents said this because they feared the Jews, who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled from the synagogue.
Because of that his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.” So, a second time, the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him,
“Tell us the truth; we know that this man is a sinner.” He replied, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see."
They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He replied,
“I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they started to insult him.
“Become his disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
The man replied, “It is amazing that you don’t know where the man comes from, and yet he opened my eyes! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners,
but if anyone honors God and does his will, God listens to him. Never, since the world began,
has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him.
He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is he, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said,
“You have seen him and he is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him. Jesus said,
“I came into this world to carry out a judgment: Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.”
Some Pharisees stood by and asked him, “So we are blind?” And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty.
But you say, ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”

LECTIO DIVINA:

Read: The first reading shows us Samuel's journey to find the Lord's chosen one, and the ritual for anointing the new king.
In the Gospel, Jesus gives sight to the man born blind. In this episode, the most unlikely person receives the light of faith in Jesus,
while the religion-oriented, law-educated Pharisees remain spiritually blind. Jesus gave to the blind beggar not only his bodily eyesight but also the light of faith.

Reflect: In the Gospel, the blind man’s progress in spi­ritual sight, the three-stage development of his faith in Jesus,
reminds us that we need God’s grace in order to have a clearer spiritual vision in life. The Pharisees suffered from spiritual blindness.
They were blind to the Spirit of God. They had religion but they lacked the spirit of Jesus’ love. They were also blind to the suffering
and pain of other people right before their eyes. There was no compassion in their hearts. They were truly blind both to the
Spirit of God and to the presence of God in the human suffering around them. In contrast, the man born blind, who was completely ignorant
and uneducated, was the one able to see the presence of God in Jesus.

Pray: Lord, remind us always that those who pretend to see the truth are often blind, while those who acknowledge their blindness are given clear vision.

Act: Pray for the poor and those who suffer in your community and do something to alleviate their pain or suffering.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2020