FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
22 MARCH 2020
In Genesis, God creates light and separates it from
darkness on the first day of creation.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see light and darkness used repeatedly
to symbolize day and night, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, and divine
and demonic. Saint Paul picks up this
symbolism in his Letter to the Ephesians.
He reminds them that they were once darkness. Now that they have been baptized, they are
light in the Lord. He reminds them that they
cannot take part in the fruitless works of darkness any more. Instead, they need to live as children of
light, living the virtues of goodness and righteousness and truth.
At the very
beginning of his Gospel, Saint John says that Jesus is the eternal Word of God
who was present in the beginning. Jesus
is the light shining on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us, and we have seen his glory: the glory of an only Son coming from the Father
filled with enduring love.
In today’s
Gospel, Jesus reveals the light of his presence. He responds to the darkness of his disciples when
they ask if his blindness was because of his sin or the sin of his
parents. Jesus insists that neither
answer is true. Jesus alludes to the
second chapter of Genesis when God took clay, breathed in it, and formed the
first human being. He makes clay with
his saliva, smears it on the blind man’s eyes, and tells him to wash in the
Pool of Siloam, which means “sent.”
Now that
the man can see light, he confronts the growing darkness of others. His neighbors cannot believe that he is the
same man who used to beg. The Pharisees,
who are the religious leaders, begin to hassle him, because they claim that Jesus
is a sinner for healing him on the Sabbath.
His parents are afraid of the religious leaders and refuse to
cooperate. Finally, the religious
leaders throw the newly sighted man out of the synagogue, plunging themselves
into a complete darkness that refuses to see the light. Then the man sees Jesus with his own eyes,
fulfilling the desire of so many psalmists yearning to see the face of
God. He has come to see the light
shining in the face of Jesus Christ, and he worships him.
In normal
times, we would pray the second scrutiny over those preparing for Baptism
today. But these are not normal
times. In the midst of the darkness of
this pandemic, we pray for those who have traveled from darkness to see the
light of Christ promising them new life through the waters of baptism. Like the man born blind, they have come to
see the face of God in Jesus Christ.
They will receive candles lit from the Easter Candle after they have
emerged from the life-giving waters as a reminder that they the light of Christ
shines through them.
If the
Elect are like the man born blind, we who have been baptized can easily slip
into the darkness of the religious leaders of his day. When we fail to live our baptismal promises,
we avert our eyes from the face of Jesus Christ and allow the darkness to
overcome us. Especially in these dark
days of isolation, it is easy to allow the darkness to overwhelm us. In turning our gaze toward his presence in
our lives, we can allow his light to shine through us in reaching out to other
people. Instead of hoarding things and
worrying about ourselves, we can reach out to neighbors who are isolated or
discouraged. We can lend a hand to those
who need help. We can be light and see
the face of Christ in others. We call
today “Laetare Sunday,” which means to rejoice.
We do not wear the gold of Easter Sunday. We wear the rose of that early morning light
before the sun comes up. We can be the
face of Christ that gives light in darkness.
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