The gospel this Sunday is a long story about a man born blind who is given sight by Jesus. It is a long story because the Gospel writer tells in detail the thorough examination that the Pharisees had to make to ascertain whether Jesus had broken the Sabbath or not.

The Gospel begins by offering Jesus’ important statement about the man born blind; it was not the result of his sin nor his parents’ sin; it simply was an occasion for the works of God to be displayed. So Jesus simply puts some spittle in the dirt and makes a paste with it and puts it on the eyes of the blind man and tells him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.

When the man returns to the Temple and is now able to see, his neighbours are confused. Some say that he is the same man that was born blind; others say he is not. When they ask him if he is the same man, he says “yes” and so they want to know how he was granted sight. He describes what Jesus did. And so the neighbours bring him to the Pharisees to find out how they should react to this event since it happened on the Sabbath.

So the Pharisees first have to determine was this man really born blind so that is sight is really something remarkable. They ask him, his neighbours, and even his parents. They all attest to the fact that he really was blind but now could see. When they ask how this could be, the parents refuse to offer an answer; they simply tell the Pharisees to ask him since he is of age. When they ask the man, he tells them how Jesus made a paste with his spittle and put it on his eyes and told him to go wash off the paste. After that he could see.

So now the focus changes. It is no longer whether the man has a new gift of sight from God but whether Jesus broke the Sabbath by forming the paste. When they ask the man what he thinks, the man says that the man who healed him is a prophet. The Pharisees tell him that a prophet would not break the Sabbath, and for speaking thus the man was banished from the Temple.

This story always brings up for me one painful incident in my own life but also some very happy ones.

One time when I was in charge of the formation of the seminarians I was brought face to face with the fact that like the Pharisees I could get so blinded by my concern for the law that I could not see the gift that God was giving us. The seminarians before they took their perpetual vows had to meet with me and the three other priests on the staff. There was one man that we were all convinced was a good man who should be allowed to take his perpetual vows but who, we all sensed, was bothered by something that was blocking his further development. After about an hour of speaking with us he began to reveal something that happened to him as a child that made him fearful about trusting others. Since I was in charge of all the seminarians I was getting concerned because the time for Evening Prayers was coming up and I didn’t think it would “look good” if the whole staff missed Evening Prayers. So I suggested we interrupt our conversation and come back afterwards. One priest then shouted at me: “For God’s sake, Larry, don’t you see what is happening here! He is sharing something that is very important to him!” And he was right. I was so “blinded” by my concern for the rule that I was not able to “see” the gift that God was offering us – a man was rusting us enough to share something he had never shared before. So we continued meeting with him. It proved to be a very freeing experience for him and he became a very successful missionary in Mexico for many years. My concern for the rule blinded me from seeing the gift of God at that moment. It was a lesson I hope I never forget.

Having been through many years of counselling, therapy and spiritual direction myself, I can appreciate the gift that sight is when I have been able to get beyond of some of my “blind spots” and prejudices and could begin to see myself and others in a whole new light. In my years of counselling I have discovered that sometime the sight that comes to others with the removal of some blindness happens quickly. But sometimes too it takes time. I can remember one woman who came for counselling for two years. She had been sexually abused as a child and she was convinced that she therefore was an evil person. It took her a long time to accept the fact that something evil had happened to her but that it was not her fault – she was not an evil person. I can still see the smile on her face when she was leaving after our last session as she turned and said: “I really am a good person, aren’t I?” I said: “yes, you are.” After that she could see things that she could not see before.

It is a great gift from God when we can walk out of the dark (blindness – about something or other) and can see the light (a new way of understanding and behaving).