Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 19, 2025
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to go on a women’s retreat in Washington, D.C., and found myself in a beautiful chapel preparing to receive the sacrament of confession. However, even in this beautiful setting, a sense of spiritual lethargy lingered, and I distractedly moved through an examination of conscience. Plenty of vague missteps in my relationships emerged, but I struggled to remember the exact nature of my sins. I whispered a quiet prayer: “God, help me remove the blinders and see it all clearly.”
To me today, that is the prayer of the blind man. The man “begged Jesus to touch him” so that he might experience freedom from blindness. While part of me would prefer not to look clearly at the persistent sins that cloud my vision of the kingdom of God here and now, I really do desire to see with distinction and clarity.
I can usually summon the zeal to make a good confession during primetime liturgical seasons like Advent and Lent, but today’s story of the blind man of Bethsaida stirs up in me a desire to seek mercy and healing through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, even during these ordinary winter days.
If it is sometimes tempting to fall into a rushed or cursory examination of conscience before entering the confessional, let us all meditate on the blind man of Bethsaida. He reminds us of ourselves—at first, only seeing our sins in blurry shapes. Yet, through his unflinching desire for clarity, he prays for fully restored sight and full, courageous healing.
Prayer
Christ Jesus, you touched the eyes of the blind man twice before he was fully cured. Grant us confidence in your persistence in the face of enduring troubles or sin in our lives. Help us to know that you never leave us, that you will continue to heal us, that your love is greater than our weakness. Grant us faith that we will one day see your love for us clearly and distinctly. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sister Thea Bowman is a joyful example of contemporary sainthood. Sister Bowman was born Bertha Bowman in Mississippi in 1937. Bertha's grandfather had been a slave before the Emancipation Proclamation, but her parents were both professionals: her father was a doctor and her mother taught. Bertha was raised in a vibrantly spiritual Methodist home, and she became attracted to the life of love and service that the religious sisters in her town led. With her parents' permission, young Bertha converted to Catholicism when she was just nine.
Bertha was enrolled in a Catholic School, which deepened her appreciation for the Catholic faith and for the sisters who taught her. When she was fifteen, Bertha traveled north to Wisconsin to join the order of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse. She attended college at Viterbo University in Wisconsin and then traveled to Washington D.C. to earn her master's degree and doctorate at the Catholic University of America. She finished her Ph.D. in 1972 and began to teach at CUA, then her alma mater of Viterbo, and Xavier University.
Sister Thea, as she became known as, worked diligently not only at education but on evangelization of Black American Catholics. The Church in the South had been wounded by the history of segregation and slavery. The social structures of sin prevented the marginalized populations from feeling welcome in the Church that they saw as a Church of white people. Sister Thea worked to create a hymnal that showcased Black spirituality and culture. She traveled across the American continent and even abroad to the Caribbean Islands and Africa to spread a ministry of joy—a ministry of proclaiming the joy of each culture's unique differences yet their unity in Christ.
Sister Thea died on March 30, 1990. Shortly before her death, Notre Dame announced her that year's recipient of the Laetare Medal. Sister Thea's cause for canonization has been opened, and the United States bishops announced their support for her canonization at their 2018 fall conference.
Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, who worked to overcome racial divisions so that all Christians might be united in Christ—pray for us!
To learn even more about Servant of God, Sr. Thea Bowman, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sr. Thea Bowman appears courtesy of Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.