ANGELUS: CHRIST, THE LIGHT THAT TRANSFORMS SIN

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 2002 (VIS) - This morning, prior to praying the angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II recalled that the blind man mentioned by St. John in today's Gospel, "represents man, marked by sin, who wishes to know the truth about himself, ... but who is prevented from doing so by congenital sickness."
He went on: "Only Jesus can cure him. ... By entrusting themselves to Him, all human beings, spiritually blind since birth, have the chance 'to come to the light' once more, in other words, to be born to supernatural life."

Then, quoting the Gospel which speaks of the Pharisees' refusal to recognize the miracle of Jesus' curing the blind man because it was performed on a Saturday, the Pope said: "For those who meet Jesus, there are no half measures: or we recognize that we need Him and His light, or we chose to do without. In this latter case, it is one and the same presumption that prevents both those who feel they are righteous before God and those who consider themselves as atheist, from opening themselves to true conversion.

"May no one," he concluded, "close their soul to Christ! To those who accept Him, He gives the light of faith; a light that can transform hearts and, consequently, mentalities and the social, political and economic situations that are dominated by sin."

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