Open My Eyes
Last Thursday I went to the National Gallery in London, to see the exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350. I loved it. Among the exhibits were panels from the Maestà (‘majesty’), an altar piece created by Duccio di Buoninsegna. It was welcomed to Siena Cathedral by the sound of trumpets and kettledrums on 9th June 1311.
The exhibition has reunited — for the first time since their dispersion some 250 years ago — all eight surviving panels from the back of the predella. What was interesting for me was that, among the eight panels, were depictions of the story of the woman at the well, that of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. These are our Gospel readings for the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent.
The National Gallery owns the panel depicting Jesus opening the eyes of the man born blind. What is unusual in this picture is Jesus gently applying a paste made of mud and spittle to the blind man’s eyes. The disciples are all close behind Jesus, looking on in wonder. Then, next to this, the artist depicts the same man, now seeing, throwing away his stick and raising up his hand in praise. It shows a scene of total transformation.
As we hear from this Sunday’s Gospel, the man not only receives his physical sight, but also comes to see who Jesus is. “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Jesus asked him. He answered, “And who is he sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.
It is Jesus who leads the man to the kingdom of light. The Pharisees, in their questioning of the man and his parents, show their blindness. They cast the man out — because they cannot accept what has happened.
Let our prayer for this week of Lent be:
Lord, open my eyes and free me from the false values that surround and blind me. Lord, set me firmly in your truth that I may be a child of the light. May I rejoice in your light that I may see and, like the man born blind whose sight you restored, may I be a staunch and fearless witness to the faith.
