WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE!
Happy 4th Sunday of Lent. Today is known as Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday. The Entrance Antiphon today urges us to ‘rejoice, be joyful & exult’. Why? Because the days of Christ’s passion, suffering & death, & glorious resurrection are fast approaching. Soon, we will celebrate Easter & the precious gift of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
We continue using the readings of Year A for our reflection as we pray for our Elect in their 2nd Scrutiny this weekend. We reflected on Living Water last week; today we look at Light & Sight.
Straight away in our 1st Reading from 1 Samuel 16, we encounter the importance of having proper sight. Samuel, who was asked by the Lord to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king, saw Eliab from purely a human viewpoint & thought that he would be the chosen one. But the Lord corrected him, telling him that ‘man looks at appearance, but God looks at the heart’ (cf 1 Samuel 17:6). Instead, God chose David & told Samuel to anoint him. Jesse also had to learn to align his view with God’s – he didn’t see David as special & important & didn’t even present him to Samuel until Samuel asked.
What about you? Can you see people, events & situations with appropriate God-tuned vision? Pray that the Lord grants you this holy sight!
David, who was anointed by Samuel, was a shepherd. How apt, then, that today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 23) composed by David himself declares that the Lord is his shepherd. He sang of the great love & protection of the Lord, who leads him (& us, His sheep) to green pastures & restful waters; gives him light in the valley of darkness; provides comfort, freedom from fear, a banquet feast, honour & a safe dwelling. Our Response in the Psalm “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want” (Psalm 23:1), then, expresses our heartfelt rejoicing & exultation in the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd.
Todays Gospel from John 9:1-41 tells the healing & restoration of sight to a man born blind. The Lord looked with mercy & healed him of his blindness, something that the blind man acknowledged was unheard of. More than just the physical healing, Jesus opened his eyes of faith to believe in, & worship Jesus as the Messiah & the Son of Man. The darkness that the man born blind was living in all his life was now lifted & he could see! The Jews, though endowed with perfect sight, could not see nor wanted to accept Jesus. They were blinded by their prejudice & ignorance. In their good physical eyesight, they were spiritually blind.
All of us reading this blogpost today have the blessing of eyesight. We do not have to contend with the heartaches & challenges of blindness, darkness & alienation from people. Yet, today, the relevant question is: How is your spiritual sight? Is our vision impaired due to pride, prejudice, judgmentalism & unforgiveness? Are you able to recognise the love & presence of the Lord in your life? Or do you grumble & complain that God has forgotten you? Can you see the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd leading & guiding you, especially in difficult times, trials, rejections, failures & defeat? Or do you usually hang your head in misery, guilt & shame?
Today, turn to the Lord Jesus & ask Him to restore your spiritual sight. So that you can lead the “fullness of life’ (cf John 10:10) that Jesus gives you. And so that you can walk as a ‘child of light, in complete goodness, right living & truth’ (cf Ephesians 5:8-9 – from today’s 2nd Reading).
Here’s a beautiful hymn based on the Gospel called “Song of the Man Born Blind”. I remember this hymn with great fondness as my friends & I from the choir used to sing this hymn in the early 2000s each 4th Sunday of Lent.
https://youtu.be/I_DT2xjGsB8?si=rF7qwd7wpAS7tkJ5
Article by Damian Boon, HFC Blog Team Lead