From Blindness to Sight

We reflect on this week’s gospel of the healing of the blind man by Jesus as well as last week’s gospel of Jesus’ encounter with Samaritan woman at the well.The healing of the blind man symbolizes the healing and transformative power of Jesus Christ. Born blind, sitting on roadside begging for alms before Jesus entered his life, and after Jesus heals him, he gains sight, follows Jesus and gives testimony. Similarly, the Samaritan woman was living a sinful life until she met Jesus Christ. After the encounter, when she received the living water, she went back different. She left the jar behind - the jar of anxiety, worries, rejection and accusations - she doesn’t need the jar anymore after she received the living water. She has transformed and went back to the village to testify.The blind man calls Jesus a man, prophet and then messiah which finds parallelism with the Samaritan woman who first called Jesus' ‘sir’ and then ‘prophet’ and ‘messiah’ when she was testifying to the village.Both the blind man and Samaritan woman were transformed and likewise, we should move forward in our faith as we encounter Jesus. It is a testimony of how an encounter with Jesus can transform our lives.- Saturday Novena Devotion by Fr. Antony Charles, C.Ss.R. (14 March 2026)