VATICAN CITY, 2 MAR 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.
The Sunday liturgies of Lent, the Pope remarked "take us on a true Baptismal journey". If last Sunday Jesus promised the Samaritan woman the gift of "living water", today with the healing of the blind man He shows Himself as "light of the world" and next Sunday, with the raising of Lazarus, as "the resurrection and the life".
He continued: "Water, light and life are symbols of Baptism, the Sacrament that 'immerses' believers in the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, freeing them from the slavery of sin and giving them eternal life".
The Pope noted how in today's Gospel reading the disciples, in keeping with the mentality of the time, believe the man is blind as a consequence of his sins or those of his parents, but "Jesus rejects this prejudice" and His words enable us to hear "the living voice of God, which is wise and providential Love".
The Holy Father explained: "Faced with a man debilitated by his limitations and his suffering, Jesus does not think of any possible sins but of the will of God Who created the man for life. ... He enters into immediate action: mixing dust with His own saliva to make mud which He spreads over the blind man's eyes. This gesture alludes to the creation of man, which the Bible recounts with the symbol of dust moulded and animated with the breath of God".
"In healing man, Jesus achieves a new creation. But that episode of healing gives rise to animated discussion because Jesus performs it on the Sabbath and thus, according to the Pharisees, breaks the precept of the feast day. Thus, at the end of the narrative, Jesus and the blind man both find themselves 'driven out' by the Pharisees: the One because He violated the law, the other because, despite the cure, he was still branded as a sinner since birth".
"To the blind man Jesus reveals that He has come into the world for judgement, to separate the curable blind from those who will not let themselves be healed because they believe they are healthy. Indeed, in man there is a strong temptation to build a system of ideological security, even religion itself can become an element of this system, as can atheism or laicism, but by doing so he remains blinded by his own selfishness".
The Holy Father concluded his remarks: "Let us allow ourselves to be healed by Jesus Who can and wants to give us the light of God! Let us confess our blindness, our short-sightedness and, especially, what the Bible calls the 'great sin': pride".
ANG/LENT BAPTISM/... VIS 20080303 (480)
The Sunday liturgies of Lent, the Pope remarked "take us on a true Baptismal journey". If last Sunday Jesus promised the Samaritan woman the gift of "living water", today with the healing of the blind man He shows Himself as "light of the world" and next Sunday, with the raising of Lazarus, as "the resurrection and the life".
He continued: "Water, light and life are symbols of Baptism, the Sacrament that 'immerses' believers in the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, freeing them from the slavery of sin and giving them eternal life".
The Pope noted how in today's Gospel reading the disciples, in keeping with the mentality of the time, believe the man is blind as a consequence of his sins or those of his parents, but "Jesus rejects this prejudice" and His words enable us to hear "the living voice of God, which is wise and providential Love".
The Holy Father explained: "Faced with a man debilitated by his limitations and his suffering, Jesus does not think of any possible sins but of the will of God Who created the man for life. ... He enters into immediate action: mixing dust with His own saliva to make mud which He spreads over the blind man's eyes. This gesture alludes to the creation of man, which the Bible recounts with the symbol of dust moulded and animated with the breath of God".
"In healing man, Jesus achieves a new creation. But that episode of healing gives rise to animated discussion because Jesus performs it on the Sabbath and thus, according to the Pharisees, breaks the precept of the feast day. Thus, at the end of the narrative, Jesus and the blind man both find themselves 'driven out' by the Pharisees: the One because He violated the law, the other because, despite the cure, he was still branded as a sinner since birth".
"To the blind man Jesus reveals that He has come into the world for judgement, to separate the curable blind from those who will not let themselves be healed because they believe they are healthy. Indeed, in man there is a strong temptation to build a system of ideological security, even religion itself can become an element of this system, as can atheism or laicism, but by doing so he remains blinded by his own selfishness".
The Holy Father concluded his remarks: "Let us allow ourselves to be healed by Jesus Who can and wants to give us the light of God! Let us confess our blindness, our short-sightedness and, especially, what the Bible calls the 'great sin': pride".
ANG/LENT BAPTISM/... VIS 20080303 (480)
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