I came into this world so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind. One of the main objectives of the Lenten observance that we are undertaking these days is the repair of our relationship with God. The effects of original sin tend to incline us to always break or put a dent in our relationship with God. A broken relationship with God results not only in our inability to hear the voice of God calling out to us, but also our inability to “see” God (that is, experiencing the presence of God in the world). In order for us to live to the full our vocation as those called to sing the praises of God with all their breath, we must ensure that our eyes are always open to “seeing” God actively present in our world. Consequently, as the account of the healing of the blind man which is the content of today's Gospel Reading reminds us, part of the Lenten conversion that we must undergo is asking God to heal us of any and all attitudes that blind us from seeing God’s active involvement in our own lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters. 
Healing (opening the eyes) of the blind was a very important ministry of Jesus because of what it symbolized. As the Christ of God (Messiah), Jesus’ mission is that of leading his brothers and sisters to eternal life (salvation). The success of Jesus’ mission presupposes that those whom he has come to save and lead to eternal life are able to “see” (only those who can see are able to follow him). However, because we all share in the sin of Adam and Eve (cf. Romans 3:23:  all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory), we need to be healed of the blindness caused by our propensity to sin if we are to recognize and follow Jesus. 
When Jesus reminded the Pharisees that the purpose of his coming is to enable the blind to see, he was not only pointing to the individuals whose physical sights he had restored, but also to the attitudes such as the Pharisees were displaying which made them doubt and play down the signs which God was performing in Jesus Christ. Their refusal to confirm to the crowds that it was possible that Jesus had healed a blind man proved Jesus' point. Whereas the masses were quick to recognize that the individual had indeed been healed of his blindness, the same could not be said of the Pharisees. As a matter of fact, it was only after they came to the realization that they couldn’t convince anyone that no healing had taken place that they reluctantly attributed the healing to God even as they held on to their stance that Jesus had nothing to do with it ( a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give God the praise!’). The Pharisees chose to close their eyes to a mighty sign that God had wrought in their midst.
While the Pharisees were ‘blinded’ by their animosity towards Jesus such that they refused to ‘see’ the hand of God in what Jesus had done, the man who had been healed was able to ‘see’ things clearly and refused to join them in their attempts to discredit Jesus. Despite having been born blind, and despite not having the societal advantage that the Pharisees had, the healed man was able to ‘see’ that Jesus was no sinner because anybody living in sin could not be able to do what Jesus was doing. With his sight restored, the healed man, unlike the Pharisees, was able to believe in Jesus as the Christ of God. The restoration of his sight led him to open his heart to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and see in Jesus the fulfillment of God’s promises to God's creation. 
Together with healed man, may we too come to recognize our blindness and approach Jesus with a request to have our sights restored. For it is only with our sights restored that we can clearly see Jesus and be moved to follow him as he leads us to eternal life.