AUDIO MEDITATION:

El Greco, or Doménikos Theotokópoulos (Greek, 1541-1614), Christ Healing the Blind. Public domain.

FULL TEXT:

In this painting from El Greco, two figures near the bottom observe Jesus healing the blind man. Some have seen them as the man’s parents—the father seems to want to shield the mother from the scene.

The healing in this Gospel sets off a flurry of controversy, which is reflected in the conversations around Jesus in the painting. Jesus’ healings upset the status quo, and the authorities want to re-establish the order they are familiar with. When they interrogate the man’s parents, even his own mother and father keep their distance from him, worried about being outcast—they say, “He can speak for himself.”

Jesus provides a different example—one of engagement and solidarity in suffering. Though Jesus and his disciples were passing by and the blind man didn’t ask for it, Jesus reached out and healed him with a personal touch.

How do we respond to people who are suffering? How can we reach out to touch those whose lives seem messy and cause inconvenience?