March 27 - 4th Sunday in Lent

(1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41)

The story of David’s anointing by Samuel as King of Israel is a story of divine reversal, whereby God selects the most unlikely candidate as his chosen servant. In keeping with God’s pattern of selecting the lowly in order to overturn the authority of the mighty, the selection of David coincides perfectly with the mysterious ways of God. The horn was in itself loaded with significance. The horn is a symbol of authority for the prophets Zedekiah and Zechariah. David was anointed from the horn of Samuel and then received the authority of kingship. Psalm 23 reminds us “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” Paul is warning the Christian households in Rome to live honorably as in the daylight: no drunken orgies, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealously. Living together as light in the Lord exhibits three characteristics: goodness, righteousness, and truth. Where these three characteristics prevail, the community is able to live honorably, without attempting to hide itself from the Lord. John’s Gospel focuses on Jesus healing of the blind man from birth by making clay, smearing it on the man’s eyes, on the Sabbath. Jesus does require the blind man to go wash himself – Jesus asks him to participate in his healing and to cooperate with grace. He now becomes a disciple and stands as a primary witness to the power in Jesus that frustrates and frightens the religious authorities.

• Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart. Are there areas where you are looking at appearances, not reality?
• What are some of the false perceptions the disciples had about the blind man? How were the Pharisees blinded?
• Jesus is challenging all of us to see the world in a new way. He points out to those in the Gospel and to all of us that it is too easy to operate with set of false assumptions; to be “blind” to the things of God in our lives. How open are you to “new ways” and admitting when you have been blind?
• The light that we shine on our sins in confessing them (Sacrament of Reconciliation) purifies us and turns us away from sin. As St. Paul says, “All that then appears is light.” Has this been your experience?