Homily: “Lord, Help Me See”
(John 9:1, 6–9, 13–17, 34–38)
Several years ago, a surgeon who specialized in restoring sight told the story of a young boy who had been blind since birth.
After a delicate surgery, the day finally came when the bandages would be removed.
The room was quiet. His parents stood nearby holding their breath.
The doctor slowly removed the bandages.
For the first time in his life, light flooded into the boy’s eyes.
He blinked… looked around the room… staring at everything with amazement.
Then he turned toward his mother.
He reached out his hand, touched her face gently, and asked a question that brought everyone in the room to tears.
He said:
“Mom… is this what you look like?”
[Pause]
For the first time in his life, he could see the face of the person who had loved him since the day he was born.
Brothers and sisters,
Today’s Gospel tells the story of another man who experienced that same miracle.
But what Jesus gives him is not only sight for his eyes…
He gives sight to his soul.
In today’s Gospel we meet a man who has lived his entire life in darkness.
He has never seen the sky.
Never seen the face of a loved one.
Never seen the beauty of the world around him.
And when Jesus’ disciples see him, they ask a question many people still ask when they encounter suffering.
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
They assume suffering must be someone's fault.
But Jesus shifts their perspective.
He says:
"Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him."
In other words, Jesus reveals something powerful:
Even suffering can become a place where God’s glory appears.
Then Jesus does something unusual.
He spits on the ground, makes mud with the dust of the earth, and spreads it on the man’s eyes.
At first this may seem strange.
But if we remember the story of creation in Genesis, something beautiful appears.
God created humanity from the dust of the earth.
So when Jesus takes dust and forms clay again, something deeper is happening.
The Creator is restoring His creation.
Jesus is not simply healing this man.
He is re-creating him.
But the miracle is not finished yet.
Jesus tells the man:
"Go wash in the Pool of Siloam."
And here is something we should not overlook.
The man obeys.
He cannot see Jesus.
He does not fully understand what is happening.
But he trusts.
He walks to the pool.
He washes the clay from his eyes.
And suddenly, for the first time in his life…
he sees.
Imagine that moment.
Light rushing into his eyes.
The colors of the world.
The faces of people around him.
But strangely, the miracle does not lead to celebration.
Instead, the religious leaders begin questioning him.
They interrogate him.
They challenge him.
Eventually they throw him out.
Why?
Because the miracle challenges their certainty.
They believe they already understand God.
And here the Gospel quietly reveals something powerful:
The man who was blind begins to see…
while those who claim to see become spiritually blind.
When they question him, the man simply says:
“I was blind… and now I see.”
[Pause]
Those words describe more than physical healing.
They describe spiritual awakening.
Because the greatest blindness is not failing to see the world…
it is failing to see God.
One of the greatest saints in the history of the Church once described his life before conversion as a kind of blindness.
His name was St. Augustine.
Augustine was brilliant. Educated. Successful.
But he spent years searching for happiness in everything except God.
Later he wrote these words:
"I was blind, and I loved my blindness.
You were there, Lord, but I did not see you."
Then one day he encountered Christ in a profound way.
And his eyes were finally opened.
And he wrote the famous words:
“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new.”
Augustine realized something the blind man in today’s Gospel also discovered:
The greatest blindness is not failing to see the world —
it is failing to see God.
And the Gospel ends in a beautiful way.
After the man is rejected and thrown out, Jesus goes looking for him.
Notice that.
The world rejects him.
But Jesus seeks him out.
And when Jesus finds him, He asks a question:
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
The man answers with humility:
"Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"
And Jesus says,
"You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he."
Now imagine that moment.
This man had just begun seeing the world for the first time.
He had seen people, faces, colors, and the beauty of creation.
But now something even greater happens.
For the first time in his life, he recognizes the One who healed him.
He sees not only the world around him…
he sees the Savior.
And his response is immediate:
“I do believe, Lord.”
And the Gospel tells us:
he worshiped Him.
Brothers and sisters,
That is the true miracle of this Gospel.
Not simply that a man who was blind could see the world.
But that his eyes were opened enough to recognize Christ.
Because many people today can see perfectly with their eyes…
yet they never recognize God working in their lives.
And so perhaps the most honest prayer we can offer today is very simple:
[Slow down]
Lord Jesus…
I was blind…
Help me to see.
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