Laetare Sunday

In our readings today, we notice a parallel of several contrasts: light vs. darkness; life vs. death; day vs. night. We also notice John’s Gospel has a teardrop thrust to it. God swoops down into our lives and calls us to follow him in the upswing.  And we notice this happens to the blind man in the Gospel. Jesus comes into his world, swoops down and invites him to follow.  When we look at our own lives, we notice the same thing.  God swoops down into our world and invites us to follow Him.

In the Gospel, we see the development of one man’s faith unfolding.  The chapter is framed on both ends by Jesus talking about sin and blindness.  In the beginning he tells His disciples that blindness is not a result of sin, but reveals God’s work.  At the end, he points out the sin of the Pharisees remains because they choose to be blind to God’s work.

Notice as the story unfolds, the man’s faith is on a continual increase.  As his faith in Jesus grows, the Pharisees become more and more dejected.  They seem to be on the decrease.  At first, the blind man does not hesitate when Jesus tells him to wash.  How often do we hesitate before acting on what is right?  Then the man, who was cured of his blindness, acknowledges Jesus as a prophet.  Hearing the passage with faith, we realize this is a gross understatement.  His faith is contrasted with the refusal of the Pharisees to believe.  When the Pharisees accuse the man of being a disciple of Jesus, he does not deny it.  This shows increasing faith.  They say: We do not know where this one if from.  The man’s faith continues to unfold as he reminds the Pharisees that we can’t do anything remarkable without God.  He is confessing that Jesus is from God.  In their refusal to believe, the Pharisees get frustrated and throw him out.  Finally, he says, I do believe, and he worships him.  We see his faith deepen in this short encounter. Lent is a time for us to deepen our faith as well.

Today is Laetare Sunday.  We acknowledge we are half way through Lent.  It’s time to rejoice in our destination ahead.  We get caught up in the austerities of Lent. So we may have to remind ourselves of our joyful and glorious goal.  Our short term goal is the celebration of Easter.  Our long term goal is eternal life in Heaven.  All of our focus should be there.  This is a nice half way reminder that we gave up some of the distractions of this world in order to remind ourselves of what is truly important: the goal of eternal life.  How well am I doing in this time of grace?  Do I acknowledge it as a gift and an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord?  It is time to nourish our faith. As Christians we are called to actually live what we believe in our everyday lives.  How am I answering the Lord’s call to holiness? All of us are called to holiness, the universal vocation. How am I living out my particular vocation which is a gift from God? Are we authentically living as husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, single people, students?

Notice how our first reading illustrates that we do not think as God thinks or judge as God judges.  David did not seem qualified, but he was the one.  God knew his heart.  Even though David was a sinner, he stayed close to the Lord.  We get tempted to make excuses like they did in the time of David: I’m too young.  I’m too old.  I’m a sinner.  It’s time to stop making excuses and start letting God use us as his instruments in the world.  We have the opportunity to ask ourselves: How am I benefitting society in my job?  How am I using my talents God has given me?