March 22 - Fourth Sunday in Lent : Spiritual Blindness

 

First Reading 1 Samuel 16:1b,6-7,10-13a
Samuel is sent to anoint David as king.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is our shepherd.

Second Reading Ephesians 5:8-14
The Ephesians are told to live as children of light.

Gospel Reading
John 9:1-41 (shorter form: John 9:1,6-9,13-17,34-38)

 

God’s ways of seeing are not our ways, we hear in today’s First Reading. Jesus illustrates this in the Gospel - as the blind man comes to see and the Pharisees are made blind. The blind man stands for all humanity. “Born totally in sin” he is made a new creation by the saving power of Christ. As God breathed the spirit of life into the first man, the blind man is not healed until he washes in the waters of Siloam, a name that means “Sent.” Jesus is the new source of life-giving water - the Holy Spirit who rushes upon us in Baptism (see John 4:10; 7:38-39). In the restful waters of Baptism He has refreshed our souls. He has anointed our heads with the oil of Confirmation and spread the Eucharistic table before us, filling our cups to overflowing. With the once-blind man we enter His house to give God the praise, to renew our vow : “I do believe, Lord.”