St. Cleopa of Sihastria - Homily on the Sunday of the Blind Man

Let us wash our spiritual eyes, that is, our mind, heart, and will, through prayer, repentance, and almsgiving - and then we will heal our soul, like the blind man from the Holy Gospel.

We have all seen people who are blind, either because they were born blind or they had an accident or a grave illness. Every time we see blind people, we feel compassion and sometimes cry. They cannot walk by themselves or see the sky, the sun, or the beauty of flowers. They cannot look at icons or the cross they venerate or see the faces of their mothers, children, or fellow human beings. They cannot read holy books, they can barely work, and so they feel they are a burden for their family and society, since they live mostly from other people’s alms.

Such people who are blind in their physical eyes are worthy of compassion and everyone’s mercy. God, however, comforts those who cannot see with other gifts: wisdom, appealing speech, humility, the gift of tears, and often the gift of beautiful singing. Because the Creator of all, through His divine providence, has mercy on His creation. That is why the Holy Spirit says through the mouth of the Psalmist: “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind” (Psalm 145/146:8).

Much more severe and worthy of compassion is the blindness of the mind, the heart, the will, and the conscience. Because the soul is also much more valuable than the body. That is why the Savior says: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Because God created the soul to be eternal, blindness of the soul is one of the most serious illnesses that leads to the perdition of the soul and its eternal condemnation. That is why the healing of this illness is much more difficult and important than the healing of physical blindness.

What do we understand by blindness of the soul, or spiritual blindness? We understand the darkening and the enslavement of the soul through all kinds of sins of body and soul: pride of mind, hardness of heart, weakening of will and conscience, lack of faith, doubting faith, despair, pride, suicide, murder of the soul and body, abortion, hate and anger between people, divorce, fornication, lying, love of money, stinginess, gluttony, drunkenness, sloth, and others. All sins are illnesses of the soul which push the soul into blindness and insensitivity and the body into serious, incurable diseases. And if we do not abandon the sins that enslave us through repentance, confession, and spiritual renewal, the blindness of the soul, like any illness, leads to the death of the soul and its condemnation to the torments of hell.

What is the Christian who changes his faith in God, abandons the Orthodox church founded by Christ and the Holy Apostles, and joins other denominations - if not spiritually blind? What is the Christian who has not come to church for years, doesn’t pray, doesn’t read holy books, and postpones repentance and confession until the hour of his death - if not spiritually ill and blind? What are people who call themselves Christian in name only and spend their time, money, and health on fleeting cares and mortal sins - if not unhappy and spiritually blind? What are people who have not read even once the Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament, and other books with Christian teachings that guide and enlighten the mind and the soul toward Christ - if not unhappy and lacking the light of spiritual knowledge and joy? What are Christians who spend their lives in drunkenness and fornication, in fights, divorce, judgment, and hate - if not people weak in faith and deceived by the devil, people blind and ill spiritually, who walk on the path of perdition and are not able to abandon their sins, repent, and save their souls?

How much blindness and lack of faith do those spouses have who get married only for their pleasure and sins, and do not want to have children, or if they have them, they scandalize them with the way they live and do not give them a healthy, Christian education? And we see how many disagreements and divorces, how many abortions, how much drunkenness and lack of religious education tear apart the unity of our families - these living cells of life and society. All these sins enslave us because of our spiritual blindness, our carelessness, our lack of faith in God, our lack of knowledge of the Gospel, our lack of participation in the life of the Church, our postponement of confession, the lack of a good spiritual father, our forgetfulness of death and the judgment awaiting us.

This is what spiritual blindness is, and this is how much it enslaves all of us - some with bodily sins, some with spiritual sins, and all with hardness of the heart, with lack of prayer, with forgetting God, with a multitude of earthly cares. There is no one good or just, pure or worthy of the next life before the Savior Who will judge us.

What should we do, then? How can we heal ourselves of this terrible insensitivity of the heart, of the enslavement of passions, of the blindness of our souls? We should abandon the sins that enslave us and return to Christ, the Church, prayer, humility, and repentance. That is to say, we should do what the blind man from today’s Gospel did when Christ asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” and he answered from his whole heart: “Lord, I believe! And he worshipped Him” (John 9:38).

Christ is also asking us today: “Christians, do you believe in Christ, the Savior of the world? Do you keep His commandments? Do you believe in the Holy Gospel so you can have eternal life? Do you believe that God created the world, that He is merciful toward it, and that He alone can save it from destruction and death?” We will each be saved or condemned depending on the answer that we will give.

And if we believe in the Son of God with all our might, then let us fulfill His commandments and do what the blind man in the Gospel did after Christ anointed his eyes with clay, then sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam: he immediately got healed and was able to see. The clay on the eyes of the soul is the uncleanliness of our sins, of which we cleanse ourselves through the bath of tears and confession. Let us listen to Christ and do what He commands us. Let us wash our spiritual eyes, that is, our mind, heart, and will, through prayer, repentance, and almsgiving - and then we will heal our soul, like the blind man from the Holy Gospel.

Earthly life is short, deceiving, and filled with suffering, whereas heavenly life is blessed and filled with eternal happiness. Let us abandon our sins that blind us and kill our souls, and let us return to Christ. It is not enough to make the sign of the cross and say, "Lord, Lord!" What is asked of us is a profound spiritual renewal of our lives. We are asked to throw away the clay of our passions from our souls' eyes, wash ourselves in the pool of Siloam, that is, in the bath of confession, and then become obedient to Christ and the Church He founded on earth. By being humble, praying, reconciling with one another, going to Church regularly, giving alms according to our means, and raising our children in the right faith and love for God, we become good Christians, true children of the Orthodox Church, and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.

Christ is Risen!

Translated from https://doxologia.ro/predica-la-duminica-vi-dupa-pasti-orbului-din-nastere-despre-orbirea-sufleteasca-pr-ilie-cleopa