Saturday, March 18, 2023

4th Sunday of Lent, Year A

“Laetare, Jerusalem” - “Rejoice, Jerusalem!” These first words of the Introit today make us pause during these difficult days, when our world is under siege from Covid-19. Yet they set the tone for this Fourth Sunday of Lent. Halfway through the penitential Lenten season, the Church invites us to rejoice, emphasizing the themes of joy and light, and giving us the Gospel story of the man who was born blind (John 9:1). We pray that Our Lord stretches out his healing hand to us all, as he did the blind man.

In 2002, St. (Pope) John Paul II spoke on this Gospel in his Angelus address in St. Peter´s Square:
Icon, Healing the Blind Man
The man born blind represents the man marked by sin, who wishes to know the truth about himself and his own destiny, but is impeded by a congenital malady. Only Jesus can cure him: He is “the light of the world” (John 9:5). By entrusting oneself to him, every human being, spiritually blind from birth, has the possibility of “coming to the light” again, that is, to supernatural life.... 
For whomever encounters Christ, there is no other way: Either one recognizes one´s need of him and of his light, or one chooses to ignore him. In the latter case, the same presumption impedes both the one who thinks he is just before God, as well as the one who considers himself an atheist, to be open to an authentic conversion.
May no one, dear brothers and sisters, close their spirit to Christ! He gives the light of faith to the one who receives him, light that is able to transform hearts and, consequently, mentalities, social, political and economic situations dominated by sin. “… I do believe, Lord!” (John 9:38). With the man born blind, may each one of us be ready to humbly profess our own adherence to him.

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