Father Chas Canoy
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In this reflection on the Gospel of the man born blind, we explore how Jesus uses physical signs—like clay and light—to reveal deeper spiritual truths. The message challenges us to confront our own spiritual blindness and invites us to grow in humility, generosity, and openness to Christ, the Light of the World.
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Today’s Gospel contains a lot of detail, and it’s a great example of how Jesus often used physical realities to communicate deeper spiritual truths.
The Pharisees, however, just aren’t picking up what Jesus is laying down. For example, why does Jesus use clay in this miracle to cure the blind man’s eyes? Jesus had healed many people before with just a word. Sometimes the person didn’t even need to be near Him. Remember the story where someone said, “Just say the word and my servant shall be healed,” and Jesus cured him from a distance.
So why go through the process of making clay? Why the spit and the mud?
It’s another revelation of who Jesus truly is. Jesus is gradually revealing His divine identity. There was a Jewish tradition connected to the creation of Adam. Eve, of course, was taken from Adam’s rib. But Adam himself—what was he created from? The earth. Dust. “From dust you came and to dust you shall return.”
But dust alone doesn’t hold together very well. It needs moisture. And there was a Jewish tradition that God used His own breath or spit to moisten the dust and form the clay that became Adam.
So here is Jesus, taking dust, mixing it with His own saliva, creating clay, and placing it on the blind man’s eyes. And suddenly—light.
It echoes the beginning of creation itself. In the beginning God created light. He separated light from darkness.
Jesus is evoking that same creative power. But the Pharisees miss it entirely. Their pride blinds them. They feel their authority and power threatened, and instead of recognizing the truth, they remain spiritually blind.
But before we make the mistake of thinking that spiritual blindness only belongs to the Pharisees—or to people of another religion, or another political party, or people with no religion at all—we should pause.
Because the truth is that we are all born spiritually blind.
Original sin has cast a haze over our spiritual sight that only God can heal. That’s why Jesus says in the Gospel:
“I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who think they see might become blind.”
What does that mean?
The philosopher and apologist Peter Kreeft explains it beautifully. He says:
Those who think they know it all are the most ignorant of all. But those who know that they are blind and seek healing from God are the truly wise—the ones who truly see.
In other words, there are only two kinds of people in the world: the wise who know they are fools, and the fools who think they are wise. There are saints who know they are sinners, and sinners who think they are saints.
That cuts right to the heart of the problem—pride.
The Pharisees weren’t unintelligent. In fact, they were some of the most educated people of their time. But their knowledge became pride, and pride closed their hearts to the truth.
Pride is a barrier that stops spiritual growth. It keeps us from recognizing how much we still need to learn and how deeply we need God.
This is why humility is such an essential virtue. Humility combats the vice of pride that keeps us in spiritual darkness. Intelligence alone cannot free us from spiritual blindness. Only humility and openness to God can do that.
Jesus Himself says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
So how do we battle pride in our lives?
First, we recognize that pride exists in all of us. Every one of us struggles with it.
Those participating in the Hallow App’s Pray40 Lenten challenge recently reflected on pride as the root of many sins. Actor Chris Pratt shared a reflection explaining that pride was the first sin and remains one of the enemy’s greatest tools.
He quoted St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vainglory. Rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for one’s own interests but also for those of others. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is yours in Christ Jesus.”
Paul reminds us that Jesus, though He was God, did not cling to His power. Instead, He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and humbled Himself even to death on a cross.
Jesus chose the lowest place. His throne was the cross.
But our culture often teaches the opposite. We are encouraged to build ourselves up, pursue recognition, and insist on our own importance.
God, however, calls us to humility.
Mark Wahlberg offered another reflection on this same theme. Pride, he said, is difficult to recognize because it hides itself in many forms. It curls inward, focusing on ourselves—our desires, our comfort, our recognition.
Humility does the opposite.
Humility opens us outward to others.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that a person only discovers himself through the sincere gift of himself. We were created to give ourselves away in love, because that reflects the very life of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—an eternal exchange of love.
Humility, then, is not thinking less of yourself.
Humility is looking beyond yourself.
When we focus on lifting others up, serving them, and seeing them as Christ sees them, pride begins to lose its grip on our hearts.
So the challenge for us this week is simple: turn outward.
When we feel the instinct to focus only on ourselves, pause and ask: What does this person in front of me need? How can I serve them?
Generosity breaks pride. Turning outward heals the wounds created by turning inward.
One of our parishioners recently heard about the Reed Manor fire and immediately asked, “How can I help?” He sought out someone affected by the tragedy and offered concrete help. That’s what humility looks like in action.
Finally, Mark Wahlberg shared a simple prayer taught by Mother Olga:
Empty me.
Fill me.
Use me.
Empty me of selfishness and pride.
Fill me with the life of Christ.
Use me to serve others and bring them closer to God.
It’s a prayer we can repeat throughout the day:
Empty me.
Fill me.
Use me.
Amen.