Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne

Meditation by Pope Francis

Today, the Gospel shows us Jesus restoring sight to a man blind from birth (cf. Jn 9:1-41). But this miracle is misunderstood by many people and groups. Let's examine this in detail.

But first, I want to tell you: today, take the Gospel of John and read for yourselves this miracle of Jesus; the way John recounts it is very beautiful. Chapter 9, you can read it in two minutes. It shows how Jesus acts and how the human heart acts: the kind human heart, the lukewarm human heart, the fearful human heart, the courageous human heart. Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John. Do it today; it will help you greatly. And how do people receive this sign?

First, there are Jesus' disciples who, faced with the man born blind, end up engaging in gossip: they wonder whether the fault lies with his parents or with himself (cf. v. 2). They look for someone to blame; and we often fall into this trap, it's so convenient: looking for someone to blame, instead of asking ourselves difficult questions in life. And today, we can ask: what does the presence of this person mean to us, what are they asking of us? Once the healing has taken place, reactions multiply. The first is that of the neighbors, who are skeptical: "This man has always been blind: it's impossible that he can see now, it can't be him! It must be someone else!" (cf. vv. 8-9). For them, it's unacceptable; it would have been better to leave things as they were (cf. v. 16) and not create this problem. They are afraid, they fear the religious authorities, and they remain silent (cf. vv. 18-21). In all these reactions, we see hearts closed to the sign sent by Jesus, for various reasons: because they are looking for someone to blame, because they are incapable of wonder, because they don't want to change, because they are paralyzed by fear. And so many situations resemble this today. Faced with something that is precisely a message of witness from a person, a message from Jesus, we fall into this trap: we look for another explanation, we don't want to change, we seek a more elegant way out than accepting the truth.

The only one who reacts well is the blind man: happy to see, he testifies to what has happened to him in the simplest way: “I was blind, and now I see” (v. 25). Before, he was forced to beg and endured people's prejudices: “He is poor and blind from birth; he must suffer; he must pay for his sins or those of his ancestors.” Now, free in body and mind, he testifies to Jesus: he invents nothing and hides nothing. “I was blind, and now I see.” He is not afraid of what others will say: he has already known the bitter taste of marginalization all his life; he has already felt the indifference and contempt of passersby, of those who considered him an outcast of society, useful at best for the piety of a few alms. Now, healed, he no longer fears these contemptuous behaviors, because Jesus has restored his full dignity. And this is clear, it always happens: when Jesus heals us, he restores to us dignity, the dignity of Jesus' healing, complete, a dignity that comes from the depths of the heart, that encompasses all of life; and He, on the Sabbath day, before everyone, freed him and restored his sight without asking anything of him, not even a thank you, and He testifies to it. It is the dignity of a noble person, of a person who knows he is healed and begins again, is reborn; this rebirth in life, which was the subject of today's "To His Image": to be reborn.

Brothers and sisters, with all these characters, today's Gospel places us, too, at the center of the stage, so that we may ask ourselves: what position do we take? What would we have said at that moment? And above all, what are we doing today? Like the blind man, do we know how to see the good and be grateful for the gifts we receive? I ask myself: what is my dignity like? What is your dignity like? Do we bear witness to Jesus, or do we spread criticism and suspicion? Are we free from prejudice, or do we associate ourselves with those who spread negativity and gossip? Are we happy to say that Jesus loves us, that he saves us, or, like the parents of the man born blind, do we allow ourselves to be trapped by the fear of what people will think? People with lukewarm hearts, who do not accept the truth and do not have the courage to say, "No, it's not like that." Furthermore, how do we respond to the difficulties and indifference of others? How do we welcome those who face numerous limitations in life? Whether physical, like the blind person; or social, like the beggars we encounter on the street? And do we see this as a curse or as an opportunity to be close to them with love?

Brothers and sisters, let us ask today for the grace to marvel each day at God's gifts and to see the various circumstances of life, even the most difficult to accept, as opportunities to do good, as Jesus did with the blind man. May the Virgin Mary help us in this, along with Saint Joseph, a just and faithful man.

AR — DE — EN — ES — FR — HR — IT — PL — PT

POPE FRANCIS

ANGELUS

Saint Peter's Square

Sunday, March 19, 2023

[ Multimedia ]

______________________________________