Christ our Light!

 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT (Laetare)

19 March 2023, Holy Spirit Parish

1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a

Eph 5:8-14

Jn 9:1-41

 

Praised be Jesus Christ!

       When you are in Year A like we are in 2023, of the 3 Year Cycle of the Lectionary, the Sunday Gospels are all quite long and this Sunday, recounting Jesus’ healing of the man born blind, is no exception. Today from John’s Gospel chapter 9, the Scribes and the Pharisees refuse to draw the same conclusion drawn in his own regard by the man whose sight was miraculously given to him by Jesus. Over the scorn of the leaders of the Jewish people and their denial of his testimony (clear evidence), the man boldly attests to the miracle worked for him. Jesus in His own words declares “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” God is at work in the world and unmistakably so by correcting an error or deficiency of nature. That happens with the clay Jesus made with His own saliva. It is not so much healing as it is reminiscent of the creation of man in Genesis, whom God formed to perfection from the clay of the earth. In their refusal to believe the man, the so-called leaders of the people show their utter blindness. The once born blind man is the one who sees clearly now and teaches us about the Christ, the long-promised Messiah come into the world.

As Jesus explained to His own disciples about the origin of this man’s blindness: “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

       “(I)t is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” The man born blind is now whole and the Church would have us draw the necessary conclusion in terms of faith, making that clear in this Sunday’s second reading with a quote from the Letter to the Ephesians.

“Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

       You often hear talk about God’s mysterious ways. To say that they are mysterious is not to say that they are totally unsearchable. Things are, even matters of faith are evident with God. Godlessness, unbelief, and the mental reservations or a certain pretended sophistication which dismiss faith in God’s word are the tragedy. They are ultimately a refusal to accept God Who reveals Himself in Christ. Without Christ, without the Lord Jesus we dwell in darkness. In the last analysis the blindness of this world’s movers and shakers (I think they call them influencers today) is damnable and only to be pitied. Faithless or unbelieving people deserve our pity and should occasion our prayer that they not be lost for all eternity. “We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

       Even so, God’s ways are indeed mysterious. We can see that from the First Book of Samuel in the story of God’s choice of David to be the second king of Israel. In our Old Testament reading for this Laetare, the 4^th Sunday of Lent God gives the Prophet Samuel a real challenge. Without clearer instructions, old Samuel is sent to anoint a new king for Israel from among the numerous sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. “I have chosen my king from among his sons.” It was a political act on Samuel’s part to proceed to anoint a new king while the old one was still reigning. In taking this risk, Samuel was expressing God’s judgment against the reigning king Saul, who disobeyed God and hence lost God’s favor. The choice fell to David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, whom his father had not even thought to bring home to the sacrificial feast from tending the flocks. We see clearly in this account that the all-surpassing power belongs to God; He and not the chosen king is the one to rule God’s people. God rules and He manifests His power by His choice of the shepherd boy. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”

       Over the years and especially today, if I personally have had to use any skills I might have learned as a Vatican diplomat then it is rare that I use them with foreign governments or political figures. The movers and shakers of this world are not really that. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” God rules in Christ! The Jesus Who made the clay with His saliva makes all things new and whole.

Before my retirement, the biggest controversies or tensions my job has called me to try and work through were almost always Church internal, where Catholics are divided among themselves. The refusal of the Jewish authorities to listen to or accept the witness of the man born blind hits all too close to home when it comes not only to inner church conflicts but to what is most important in our world. “It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.”

       I am going to stop short of saying more and just urge you on this Laetare Sunday to rejoice, to rejoice in the power of Christ to save. Easter is very near! Through His Suffering and Death the Lord Jesus has made all things new. Our willfulness, our panic, our sleepless nights have more to do with darkness than they do with God. Give your life to Christ!

“We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

       Praised be Jesus Christ!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI