In this week’s Gospel passage, Jesus performs an unbelievable miracle. He gives a man who was born blind his sight back. Can you imagine it? You might think, “Oh, that’s nice, but it has nothing to do with me!” Think again. We are ALL blind, perhaps not physically blind, but certainly we are all spiritually blind to some extent. Presenting the miracle of Jesus’ giving sight to a physically blind man, today’s passage from the Holy Gospel teaches us the necessity of opening the eyes of our mind by faith. Jesus warns us that those who pretend to see the truth are often blind, while those who acknowledge their blindness (aka their weakness, their faults, their dependence upon God) are given clear vision. In this Gospel episode, the most unlikely person, namely the blind man, receives the light of faith in Jesus, while the rule-oriented Pharisees remain spiritually blind. My, my, my…those ol’ Pharisees are at it again. To live as a Christian is to see, to have clear vision about God, about ourselves and about others. Our Lenten prayers and sacrifices should serve to heal our spiritual blindness so that we can look into the hearts of others and love them as children of God, our own brothers and sisters….and not be judging their motives for how they act. Think about it…we all have blind-spots – in our parenting, in our growing up, in our work habits, and in our personalities. We often choose to remain in the dark (what???), preferring darkness to light. Even so-called “practicing Christians” are blind to the poverty, injustice and pain around them. Be assured, however, that Jesus wants to heal our blind-spots. We only need to ask Him to remove from us the root causes of our blindness: namely, self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, addictions and, to sum up, hardness of heart. Let us pray with the Scottish Bible scholar William Barclay, “God our Father, help us see Christ more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly.” Do you remember that song from “Jesus Christ, Superstar”? Sherlock Holmes, the great detective who had solved many mysteries, and Dr. Watson, his companion, went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars". Sherlock Holmes then said, "Well Watson, what does that tell you"? Watson pondered for a minute and then replied, "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Why, what does it tell you"? Sherlock Holmes responded, "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent". Watson had missed the most obvious. He was clever enough to notice the complexities of the stars but he missed what was plain and simple. Today’s Gospel reading is about a whole lot of people who miss the point. In Jesus’ healing of a blind man, the Pharisees missed the most evident point as well. GOSPEL QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: How well does your heart see?