MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #381

Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said to him: "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?" He answered, and said: "Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" And Jesus said to him: "Thou hast both seen him; and it is he that talketh with thee." And he said: "I believe, Lord." And falling down, he adored him. And Jesus said: "For judgment I am come into this world: that they who see not may see; and they who see may become blind." And some of the Pharisees, who were with him, heard: and they said unto him: "Are we also blind?" Jesus said to them: "If you were blind, you should not have sin: but now you say: 'We see.' Your sin remaineth." (John 9:35-41)

INCREASE OF FAITH: The man born blind corresponded with grace. He obeyed Jesus, believing that He was able to cure him by the washing of his eyes in the pool of Siloe. The cure, when obtained, increased his faith, and he was convinced that Jesus was a prophet sent by God, who had received power from Him. He suffered persecution on account of his faith, and thus obtained the further grace of hearing from our Lord's own lips that He was the Son of God. The man born blind received not only the natural gift of sight, but with it the supernatural gift of faith. Our Lord's miracle was the cause of salvation to him, whereas it was the cause of ruin to the Pharisees, and served only to harden them in their obstinacy.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)