Doha, 28-30.03.2014.
Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio
His Grace Archbishop Petar Rajič
1 Sam 16:1b 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14; Iv 9:1-41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. While others were more concerned whether anyone from this man’s family had sinned that he was therefore born blind, Jesus did not enter into such a pointless discussion, but instead approached the man to heal his blindness and give him a new life. In this encounter, we see how the Lord Jesus becomes the blind man’s healing and his light. St. John wrote from experience that God is light and in him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5). The Lord God, the light of the world, comes to us through his grace, to provide us with his divine light that cures every kind of blindness that can darken the good in life.
Although Jesus healed this poor blind man, thus enabling him to see the sun for the first time, as well as the people around him, it nevertheless irritated the Pharisees. Instead of expressing wonderment and joy that this man had been healed, they sought a reason to accuse Jesus for his act, so they interrogated both the man and his parents. It is truly sad when we fall into a spiritual blindness similar to the Pharisees, that we cannot properly recognize the obvious signs of God’s works in the world and no longer rejoice over life or the successes of others but remain indifferent to everything.
After the Pharisees kicked the man out, Jesus met him again and asked Do you believe in the Son of Man? The Lord concluded his conversation with the man with the fundamental question of faith. The man replied I do believe Lord. He believed because he met with, listened and spoke to, and even saw Jesus with his own eyes. What a great gift this man received from God by gaining his sight and seeing the face of Jesus, who was the first person he saw in his life! When we come to the Lord in prayer with faith and believe in him, we listen to and speak with him, in order to experience and recognize his presence. The Lord then responds to our belief in him by giving us a share in his light, thereby healing our spiritual blindness, so that with the eyes of faith we can recognize him in our neighbor, and one day see Him face to face (1 Cor 13:12).
