Homily John 9:1-41
March 14, 2026
“Shift your thinking from having what you want to wanting what you have.”
Jesus heals the man born blind
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach, CA
Opening: The Gospel That Reads Us
Today’s
Gospel reading from John is one of those Gospel passages that doesn’t just tell
a story—it reveals the human heart. Jesus heals a man blind from birth, and
suddenly everyone around him must decide whether they want to see as God
sees, or cling to their own comfortable assumptions. The miracle exposes not
only the man’s eyes, but the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees, the crowd,
even the disciples.
And in a
quiet, surprising way, this Gospel asks each of us:
Do you really want to see?
Do you want to see your life, your blessings, your struggles, your neighbor,
your God—truthfully?
A Story
From This Morning
This morning
I watched a short video that struck me harder than I expected. The speaker said
something simple but profound:
“Shift your
thinking from having what you want to wanting what you have.”
let me say that again
“Shift your thinking from having what you want to wanting what you have.”
He talked
about how accustomed we’ve become to a luxurious lifestyle—so accustomed that
we don’t even recognize it as luxury anymore. He used the example of a warm
shower. He said, “Just a few generations ago, the idea of turning a handle and
having endless hot water was unthinkable. And yet we treat it as a bare
minimum.”
That hit me.
Because it’s true. We live like royalty and give it no thought.
And then I
remembered a friend of mine that lives in Mexico. He told me once how
frustrating it was to run out of propane halfway through his shower and having
to rinse off with cold water. And I sympathized—because who wants a cold
shower?
But then I
thought:
How many people in the world would love to have even that?
How many walk miles just to get enough clean water to drink and clean with, let
alone take a half an hour long shower?
How many will never experience a hot shower in their entire lives?
And suddenly
the video’s message came alive:
Want what you have. See what you’ve been given. Recognize the blessings
right in front of you.
The Blind
Man Who Saw More Than Everyone Else
That’s
exactly what happens in today’s Gospel.
The man born
blind receives sight, but he also receives something even greater:
the ability to recognize Jesus.
Everyone else
in the story has functioning eyes, but they can’t see the truth:
- The disciples, they see a sinner: “Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?” - The neighbors see a problem: “Isn’t this the
one who used to sit and beg?”
- The Pharisees see a threat, when they accuse
Jesus of working on the Sabbath.
- His parents, they see danger and keep quiet: “We
do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him,
he is of age;
he can speak for himself.”
But the blind
man who had nothing—no status, no comfort, no privilege—sees the face of God.
Why?
Because he knows what it is to receive a gift.
He knows what it is to depend on mercy.
He knows what it is to live without, and therefore he recognizes abundance when
it comes.
Those who
think they already “have everything” are the ones who miss Jesus standing right
in front of them.
The Danger
of Comfortable Blindness
We live in a
culture that trains us to be blind:
- Blind to our blessings
- Blind to our comforts
- Blind to the people who serve us
- Blind to the poor
- Blind to God’s presence in the ordinary
We become so
used to convenience that we stop seeing it.
We become so used to abundance that we call it “normal.”
We become so used to comfort that we feel deprived when the slightest thing
goes wrong.
And like the
Pharisees, we can become spiritually blind while thinking we see perfectly.
Jesus’
warning at the end of the Gospel is chilling:
“If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’
so your sin remains.”
In other
words:
The most dangerous blindness is the blindness we refuse to admit.
Gratitude
Opens the Eyes of the Soul
The man born
blind teaches us something essential:
Gratitude is the doorway to spiritual sight.
When you know
what it is to lack, you appreciate what you have.
When you know what it is to struggle, you recognize grace.
When you know what it is to be in darkness, you rejoice in the light.
This is why
the saints—who often lived with so little—saw God so clearly.
This is why the poor often have a deeper faith than the wealthy.
This is why a simple warm shower can become a moment of prayer if we let it.
Gratitude
doesn’t just make us nicer people.
It heals our vision.
It restores our ability to see God’s presence in the ordinary.
It opens our eyes to the dignity of others.
It helps us recognize Jesus when He passes by.
What Jesus
Really Heals
Jesus does
not simply restore the man’s physical sight.
He restores his identity.
He restores his dignity.
He restores his place in the community.
He restores his ability to worship.
He restores his relationship with God.
And the man
responds with the simplest, most beautiful prayer:
“Lord, I believe.”
That is the
prayer of someone who sees clearly, a prayer very similar to the prayer of Saint
Dismas, the thief crucified next to Jesus on the cross, another man who had
little, little hope, nearly dead, with just a little life left before him, but
he had great humility, and great faith, he defended Jesus and acknowledged Jesus
… and Jesus responded to him "Truly I say to you, today you will be with
me in Paradise"
Bringing
It Home: Seeing Our Lives With New Eyes
So what does
this Gospel ask of us today?
1. See
your blessings.
Not abstractly—but concretely.
In a warm shower.
In the food in the fridge.
The roof over your head.
The people who love you.
The freedom to worship.
The mercy of God poured out on us daily.
2. See the
people around you.
Especially those who are overlooked, dismissed, or judged— just like the blind
man was.
3. See our
own spiritual need.
The Pharisees refused to admit they were blind.
The man born blind knew he needed healing.
Only one of them received it.
4. And to See
Jesus.
In the Eucharist.
In the poor.
To see Jesus even in the interruptions throughout your day.
And in the blessings you’ve forgotten to notice.
A Final
Word: Want What You Have
That video I
saw this morning wasn’t just about gratitude—it was about conversion.
It was about learning to see differently.
To stop
chasing what we don’t have.
To stop complaining about what we lack.
To stop living as though God has not already been generous.
And to start
wanting what we have.
To start seeing the abundance already in our hands, in its many forms.
To start
recognizing the presence of Christ already in our lives.
Because when
we do, our eyes open.
Our hearts open.
Our faith deepens.
And like the man born blind, we find ourselves saying with joy:
“Lord, I believe.”
