Christ gives strength to conquer evil through grace of Baptism

Pope Benedict said that an illustration of this joy can be found in the story of the blind man healed by Jesus in the Sunday reading from the Gospel of John. The blind man not only gains his physical sight but comes to believe in Christ.

Everyone, “due to the sin of Adam were born 'blind,' but in the baptismal font we were illuminated by the grace of Christ,” he said. “Sin wounded humanity and destined it to the darkness of death, but in Christ shines the newness of life and the goal to which we are called.”

“In Him,” the Pope said, “reinvigorated by the Holy Spirit, we receive the strength to conquer evil and do good.”

The Pope pointed out that in the Gospel reading, those within the narrative have starkly different reactions to the miracle. The blind man himself goes through a gradual “walk of faith.” He meets Jesus who heals him, considers him a prophet, then his spiritual “eyes” are opened to see Christ as the Son of God.

However, the Pharisees do not accept the miracle as they do not accept Jesus as the Messiah and the once blind man's parents are now fearful of judgment.

The Pope asked, “what attitude do we assume before Jesus?”

“Christian life,” he said, “is a continuous conformation to Christ, the image of the new man, to reach a full communion with God. The Lord Jesus is 'the light of the world,' because in Him 'shines the knowledge of the glory of God' which continues to reveal the sense of human existence in the complex storyline of history.”