Cycle A - Year 1:

26 March 2017: Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)

(Liturgical Color: Rose or Violet)

Gospel:Please Read John 9:1-41

To see in the light of Christ!

We are truly blessed that we all woke up to a new and beautiful day. Praise You, Lord, for the gift of sight that allows us to behold the magnificent beauty of God's creation, and to celebrate life anew.

Do we realize that, sometimes, we get so used to seeing the morning sun that there is the tendency to make just a routine out of it, meaning we just take it for granted.

What if we wake up one day in total darkness, because we lose the sense of sight? It would be unspeakable and horrible.

This Sunday we will hear the encounter between our Lord Jesus Christ and a man born blind. Jesus

heals the blind man and he is able to see. This is one of the most remarkable miracles of Jesus, which reveals the power and glory of God. But then the Pharisees faulted Jesus for performing the healing during the Sabbath. For the Jews kept the Sabbath holy and even such miracle is forbidden.

But then, this story on the healing of the blind man speaks also of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. For while the blind man saw Jesus pretty clearly as a divine healer, the Pharisees wer totally blind of who Jesus is.

What is the message of Jesus' healing the man born blind to us today?

We can ask ourselves, what is really worse: physical blindness or moral and spiritual blindness? There is moral and spiritual blindness when sin clouds the mind in darkness and closes the heart to God's love and truth. This happens when we deliberately choose to disobey God's laws over the sensual pleasures of humanity.

The Good News is that our Lord Jesus Christ is ever ready to heal us and free us from the darkness of sin and deception by the evil one. Jesus offers us freedom from spiritual blindness due to sin and He restores us to wholeness of body, mind, soul and heart. For only in the light of God's truth can we see sin for what it really is, which is a rejection of God and opposition to His will. Only if we keep faith in Jesus, and believe, that we are able to see in the light of Christ. True faith means being the hearts and minds of Jesus, so that through us He may continue to do the healing and saving works of people today.

This fourth Sunday of Lent is also called "Laetare Sunday. "Laetare" comes from a Latin word, which means "rejoice". The liturgical color is pink. Laetare Sunday is similar to the fourth Sunday of Advent called "Gaudete Sunday". The point of both Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday is to provide us encouragement toward the end of each respective penitential season.

So let us pray: Lord Jesus, in Your name the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are raised to life. Come into our lives, especially during these most trying times in our worldly journey, and heal the wounds of our broken hearts, and the deep divisions among our people because of politics. Please give us the eyes of faith to see Your glory and a heart of courage to bring Your glory in all we say and do. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!