Jesus came to heal our blindness so that we can see with His eyes, Pope tells pilgrims
March 15, 2026
Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christ’s healing of the man blind from birth (John 9:1-41) as he addressed pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for today’s midday Angelus address (video).
“God sent his Son as the light of the world, to open the eyes of the blind and illuminate our lives,” Pope Leo said. “Jesus himself confirmed the authenticity of his mission by showing that ‘the blind receive their sight’ (Mt 11:5), and he presented himself with the words: ‘I am the light of the world.’“ (Jn 8:12)
“Certainly, all of us can say that we are ‘blind from birth,’ for by ourselves we cannot see the mystery of life in all its depth,” the Pope continued. “That is why God became flesh in Jesus, so that the clay of our humanity, shaped by the breath of his grace, might receive a new light, one capable of helping us to see ourselves, others and God in truth.”
Pope Leo added that “over the centuries, the opinion has spread and persists to this day that faith is a kind of ‘leap in the dark,’ a renunciation of thought, such that having faith would mean believing ‘blindly.’ However, the Gospel shows us that through contact with Christ, our eyes are opened.”
The Pope explained:
Brothers and sisters, we too are healed by the love of Christ and are called to live our faith with “open eyes.” Faith is not a blind act, a forsaking of reason or a retreat into some sort of religious certainty that causes us to turn our gaze away from the world. On the contrary, faith helps us to see things “as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes: it is a participation in his way of seeing” (Lumen Fidei, 18). In this sense, faith is an invitation to “open our eyes,” as the Lord did, especially towards the suffering of others and the afflictions of the world.
“Today, in a particular way, in the face of the many questions of the human heart, as well as the tragic situations of injustice, violence and suffering that mark our time, it is essential that our faith be alert, attentive and prophetic,” the Pope concluded. “It should likewise open our eyes to the darkness of the world, and bring to others the light of the Gospel through our commitment to peace, justice and solidarity. Let us ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for us, so that the light of Christ may open the eyes of our hearts and enable us to bear witness to him with simplicity and courage.”
Pope Leo then recited, in Latin, the Angelus, the Minor Doxology (three times), and the prayer for the faithful departed, before imparting his blessing and pleading for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
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