Today’s Gospel says, “Some of the Pharisees… heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin.  But now that you say, “We see,” your sin remains’” (Jn 9:40-41).  Because of their pride, the Pharisees think they have spiritual sight.  Jesus exposes that their pride makes them spiritually blind.  Are we spiritually blind?  The thing about spiritual blindness is that we think we’re okay.  I believe the Holy Spirit is exposing that all of us, including me, are more blind than we think.

St. Paul VI once wrote, “The person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others.  Here lies the test of truth… it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word [Jesus]… without becoming a person who… proclaims it in his turn” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 24).  On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do we proclaim Jesus?  Anything below 10 indicates we may have some blindness.

We’re focused on evangelization today, and the reason evangelization and sight are connected is because the Gospel is about a man born blind who, after his physical healing, progressively receives more and more spiritual sight, and then shares more accurately Who Jesus is: First he tells people about ‘the man called Jesus’ (9:11), then he tells them that ‘He is a Prophet’ (9:17), then, ‘If this man were not from God’ (9:33), and finally, when Jesus asks him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ he replies, “‘Lord, I believe.’  And he worshipped him” (9:35,38).

His spiritual progression occurs by being tested.  The Pharisees keep pressuring him about what happened, and that helps him understand that his healing is a sign that Jesus is God.

So, let’s put some pressure on ourselves.  How often do we invite people to know Jesus?  All the time, sometimes, rarely, never?  How many people have we lovingly invited to Alpha?  We’re not doing enough, which means we don’t love Jesus enough, and that bothers us because we do love Him, and that motivates us to share Him more.

The blind man’s sharing came from the experience of his healing.  A man once told me his favourite Scripture verse is when Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary… and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).  This is because his life as a child was filled with fear (his mother was always anxious), but after Jesus healed him, he realized his mission was to share Jesus’ healing.  So he’s always looking for ways to talk to people gently about Jesus, like asking waiters and waitresses at restaurants if there’s anything for which  they need prayer.

We’ve mentioned before Nick Vujicic—his fundamental experience of Jesus is today’s Gospel.  As a teenager, he thought about suicide, but realized he wasn’t an accident when he read, “‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’  Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him’” (9:2-3).

Nick said, “When I read that, I realized that just as God had a purpose for that man’s blindness, to use it to glorify God, He also had a purpose for me.  On reading that, a wave of faith came over me…  The blind man stood still in front of Jesus without any plan beyond trusting Him.  I needed to trust Him in the same way.  If God could use a blind man for His purposes, He could use me.  By the time I was 17, I wanted to tell others my story…  I called 52 schools asking if I could talk to their students before I got one to agree.  I talked for seven minutes, and people were crying halfway through the talk.  That was one of the most glorious days of my life.  I spoke, people cried, and I realized my pain wasn’t wasted if God could use me to help others”

So, go back to your fundamental experience.  What has Jesus done for you?  How has He loved you?  Why do you love Him?  With the Holy Spirit, we’ll be able to understand better: Jesus is my life, I want to share Him with others, and I’ll do more.  And that’s a challenge: If you love Jesus, then invite people to know Who He is.  Share what you’ve received!

Alpha is starting in two Thursdays, March 26, 2026.  Alpha is a welcoming and high-quality program for anyone exploring faith.  Just ask people, ‘Have you heard about Alpha?’  Or say, ‘My church is running a program called Alpha.  It’s about asking questions and learning more about life, the purpose of life, and the Catholic faith.  We have a free dinner, watch a 25-minute video, and then a group discussion.  Are you interested?’  There’s no pressure to come, no pressure to come back, just a warm invitation.

The more we love Jesus, the more we announce Him.  We end now with a celebration of a Baptism, and an invitation: