Blind Eye

Seeing how Catholic schools restore spiritual sight

03/31/2019

John 9:1-41 As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”

Every human being is born with a deep desire to see God. Just like we are born with a burning need to know our biological parents, so we come into this world craving to know our Creator, our heavenly Father. Why? Well, our mother and father give us the forty-six chromosomes that form our body, and so we thank them for our physical existence. But God supplies our souls at the moment of conception, so we thank him for our spiritual existence. St. Augustine spent thirty-three years searching for God, and finally finding him declared in his autobiography, The Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” Until we see God, our hearts remain restless.

Now, you would think the easiest place for people to find God would be in church, but not necessarily. Last week someone sent me a picture of a sign in a church entrance asking for silence. It read: “When you enter this church it may be possible that you hear ‘the call of God.’ However, it is unlikely that He will call you on your cell phone. Thank you for turning off your phones.” It continued: “If you want to talk to God, please enter, choose a quiet place and talk to Him. If you want to see Him, send Him a text message while driving.” It is good we want to see God, just don’t see him before he wants to see you.

In the gospel of John we meet a man who had a deep desire not only to see God, but also to see his parents because he was blind from birth. He had never laid eyes on his mother and father. As with every episode in the gospel of John, this story, too, has layers and layers of meaning, like the substratum of rock below the surface of the earth that eventually ends at the earth’s core. For John, the substrata of scripture always end at the core which is Christ. Let me just point out two layers of meaning in this remarkably rich passage. The first is a bit of irony. The blind man is able to see spiritually better than the Pharisees, whose job was a kind of spiritual optometry, helping people to see with eyes of faith. After Jesus heals the blind man, he asks him: “’Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered and said: ‘Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him: ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘I do believe, Lord,’ and he worshiped him.” Like St. Augustine in his Confessions, so the blind man had finally found and seen God, and his heart was no longer restless.

The other layer of meaning is a melancholy one, a sad one. Even though the blind man gets to behold his parents’ faces for the first time, his parents close their eyes to their son. How so? Well, when questioned by the Jews, the parents reply out of fear: “We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” In other words, even though Jesus had healed one of the forty-six chromosomes the parents had given their son causing his congenital blindness, they themselves turned a blind eye to Jesus, and to their own son. Jesus said: “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Both the Pharisees and the parents had 20/20 eye-sight, but spiritually they were blind as bats.

Today I would like to say a word about Trinity Junior High and ask your financial support for our school in a second collection. Fort Smith is blessed to have very strong public schools, and especially high achieving junior highs, like Darby, Kimmons, Chaffin and Ramsey. But I would invite you to give Trinity more than just a passing glance. Look again. Why? Well, our academics are superior. When Trinity students enter tenth grade, they excel compared to many of their public school peers. Trinity students eagerly participate in high school extracurricular activities because they are exposed to so many at Trinity. I always wonder how students who are so busy ever get time to sleep. I finally figured it out: they sleep in church! Trinity students are also community-minded because they must complete twelve service hours each year. Trinity students see community service not as a punishment but a privilege.

But what I number our single greatest blessing is the healing of spiritual blindness. In a sense, we are all born spiritual blind, like the man in the gospel. And we only begin to see with the eyes of faith when we are baptized and Jesus heals our spiritual blindness. We begin to see God. Catholic schools, like Trinity and Immaculate Conception, continue that spiritual optometry, through weekly Mass, required religion classes, and confession at least twice a year. Every student stands in the shoes of the blind man in the gospel as Jesus ask him or her: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The student answers: “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus replies: “You have seen him, and the one speaking to you is he.” The Catholic school student answers: “I do believe Lord,” and he or she worships him.

A Catholic school addresses the deepest ache in every human heart: the desire to see God. Why? Because “God has made us for himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!