Sunday Homily, April 3, 2011
John Howard Griffin disguised himself as a black man and toured the South in the early 1960’s.
He wanted to experience first hand what it was like to be black in those years of racial turmoil. Griffin
described his experience in a book called “Black Like Me” and this book was later made into a movie.
But there is another side of John Howard Griffin’s story that very few people know about.
During World War II John was blinded in an airplane explosion and for the next twelve years of his life he
could not see a thing. Then one day he was walking down a street near his parents’ home in Texas.
Suddenly he began to see what was like red sand in front of his eyes and without warning his sight
returned again. An eye specialist explained to him later that a blockage of blood to the optic nerve
caused by the airline explosion had opened causing his sight to return.
In commenting on this experience Mr. Griffin told a newspaper reporter this: “You don’t know
what it is for a father to see his children for the first time. They were both much more beautiful than I
had ever suspected.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, this dramatic episode in Griffin’s life gives us a deeper
appreciation of today’s long Gospel story. It gives us a better idea of how the man born blind felt when
he was miraculously cured by Jesus. But there is a second, even more spectacular miracle that takes
place in the story of the blind man. And what is that? It is the miracle of faith, the miracle of faith or
spiritual sight that Jesus confers on this man. It is the second miracle, or the miracle of faith, that
enables this man to fall on his knees and address Jesus as Lord. More importantly, it is the second
miracle, the gift of faith, that John stresses in today’s Gospel.
Let’s take a closer look at it. The first thing we notice about this miracle is that it takes place
gradually. It doesn’t happen all at once. For example, the man’s first reaction to Jesus, as you recall, is
to regard Jesus as just another man. Therefore, when some people ask him about his healing, this is
what he says: “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go wash my
face. And so I went, and as soon as I washed I could see.” The blind man’s first perception of Jesus then
is that he is a mere man. A remarkable man, yes, but just a man.
The blind man’s second perception of Jesus comes when he is questioned by the Pharisees.
They ask him: “You say Jesus healed you of your blindness. Well, what do you say about him?” The
man replies” “He is a prophet.” Notice: from man now to prophet. The man’s answer clearly shows
that his perception has undergone a giant leap forward. The more he thinks about Jesus, the more he
thinks about what happened to him, the more he is convinced that Jesus cannot be just another man.
He has to be somebody special, and he says, “He is a prophet.”
This brings us to the blind man’s final perception of Jesus. Later in the day, the blind man meets
Jesus face to face and recalls that Jesus was no longer around when he returned from washing in the
Pool of Siloam. Now Jesus looked him straight into the eyes and said,” Do you believe in the Son of
Man?” And he answers, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him.” Jesus responds, “You have
already seen him, and he is the one who is talking to you now.”
“I believe, Lord,” he said. And notice what happens. He falls on his knees before Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, the man’s perception of Jesus takes a final leap forward. First, he
perceives Jesus to be more than a man. Then he perceives Jesus to be more than a prophet. And then
finally he acknowledges Jesus to be Lord, to be the Lord of his life. And so the man’s gift of faith, or of
spiritual sight, is even more miraculous than his gift of physical sight.
As we talk about the blind man’s gift of faith, let us remember that we, too, received
that same gift of faith when we were baptized. In baptism, we received that same gift of faith. Before
we were washed in the waters of Baptism, we were spiritually blind, just like the man born blind in
today’s Gospel. But after we were washed in the waters of Baptism, Jesus became much, much more to
us. He became someone deeply personal to us.
This brings us a second similarity between us and this blind man. Besides receiving the gift of
faith as he did, we grew gradually in perception of Jesus, in our understanding, in our knowledge of
Jesus, as this man did. For example, the picture we had of Jesus when we were small was that of an
extraordinary man. And as we matured, our perception of Jesus also matured. Eventually, our
perception of Jesus reached its richest form. We perceived him to be what he really is: God’s own son.
You know, the exciting thing about Jesus is that the more we know about him, the greater he
becomes. In other relationships, it is usually just the opposite. The more we learn about a person, the
more we become aware of his or her shortcomings. This is not the case with Jesus. The more we grow
in our knowledge, in our understanding of Jesus, the more spectacular and glorious Jesus becomes.
Sisters and brothers, let us close with these thoughts of our Lord and Saviour. Jesus comes to
each one of us as he came to the people in Biblical times. He comes as a remarkable man. He speaks
the same three words to us that he spoke to people in Biblical times: “Come, follow me.” And if we
accept his invitation and follow him as the disciples did, as the man born blind did, Jesus will reveal
himself to us, step by step. And one day we, too, will eventually come to see what they saw and we,
too, will fall on our knees before Jesus and say to him, with all our hearts, “We believe, Lord. We believe
you are our Lord and Savior. We believe you are the Son of God.”