FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT -  A – 2020   

• The fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare Sunday, the Sunday we are invited to rejoice because Easter is closer than when we began our Lenten journey.  Laetare is the first Word of the antiphon at the beginning of the Mass.   
• This Sunday the catechumens, who are preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation, have the second scrutiny, the second opportunity to examine themselves and see how their journey toward Easter goes, and have the opportunity to allow the Lord to correct whatever is needed of change.  
• Last Sunday the theme of the liturgy was the water, this coming Sunday the theme is the light.    

THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL

Ø  These two books are found between the book of Judges and the books of Kings.

Ø  According to the Jewish tradition they are part of the Ancient Prophets: Joshua, Judges,

1       and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings   

Ø  According to the Christian tradition they part of the historical books: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees.  

Ø  The repetitions and  the diversity of literary styles found in these books make us think that they were composed by many different authors over a long period of time.  

Ø  Each book has a particular central theme. 

Ø  Besides the literary forms of these books, we need to look at the theology they transmit.  

Ø  The main point is the monarchy.   

Ø  Connected with this theme we find other themes: history, human initiatives, vocation, religious confrontations and some other themes.  

FIRST READING:   1 Sm 16: 1b,6-7,10-13a

ü  The author of the book of Samuel narrates how David was anointed King of Israel

ü  In reality, he was anointed king but did not become the king of Israel until later.  In the second book of Samuel chapter 4 we find another story about David becoming the king of Israel.  

ü  Samuel is sent by God to Jesse’s home in Bethlehem of Judah. 

ü  Samuel is drawn by the external appearance of the sons of Jesse, but the Lord keeps telling him “not this one” until David comes, then the Lord commands Samuel to anoint him.  

ü  As he is anointed, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon  him.   

ü  We are anointed at our baptism and confirmation, as kings to be kings like Jesus, who came to serve and not to be served.  

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps 23: 1-3a-3b-4,5,6

v Psalm 23 is one of the most beautiful psalms. The last stanza is especially beautiful; we sing that the goodness and mercy of the Lord will accompany us all the days of our life.  

v The author is sure, leaning in this goodness of the Lord, that he will live in the house of the Lord forever. Do I believe that?    

v In the first reading, we have read that David was elected King of Israel. We have remembered how we have been anointed kings in our baptism, kings and queens to serve our brothers and sisters.

v To learn how to be servants we need the presence and accompaniment of God in our life.  

  SECOND READING: Eph 5:8-14

     The author of the letter to the Ephesians reminds us  how we have come from darkness to light in Christ through our baptism.  

     Now that we are light, we are invited to live in the light of Christ, because his light makes us do good works, works of light.    

     We are invited to leave aside whatever has been and is darkness in our life, to be light.  

     Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew says that a light is not to be covered it is to be visible. If someone lights a candle in his home, in some way it invites others to do the same, very soon the place that was dark before becomes a light to be seen by all.

     The reading ends with an invitation “awake, o sleeper, and rise from the dark and Christ will give you light.”   

     Yes, let us arise, let us begin with decision and enthusiasm our journey of conversion to Christ, let us allow Him to help us to go day by day from darkness to light.

GOSPEL  Jn 9:1-41

  John presents again to us a theological reflection over a real event, a blind man to whom Jesus gives back his sight.   

The story can be divided in 6 different scenes.    

First scene

ü  As Jesus is on his way with his disciples, he finds a blind beggar.  

ü  The disciples, as good Israelites, know what those who interpret the Scriptures have taught them: if you behave, God will bless you, if not he will not bless you. Thus if something goes wrong in your life it means that your behavior is bad. Let us recall the book of Job. Job has a very hard time trying to convince his friends that he has not done any wrong to be visited by so many sufferings. This story told by John is like a reduced version of the book of Job.  The disciples ask Jesus: who has sinned him or his parents?    

ü  The question seems out of place, because who can sin before being born? since this man was born blind.  

ü  Jesus tells them that nobody had seen that the glory of God would be made known through that man. God can transform darkness into light, give back the spiritual and physical sight to someone.

ü  Jesus makes clay with his saliva and sends the man to the pool of Shiloh, which means sent, to wash his eyes.   

ü  Jesus wants to give back the sight to this man, but the man will have to cooperate. The same thing is true in our life, the Lord wants to convert us to Him, but he asks us to cooperate with welcoming him in our life and doing what he asks from us.  

ü  The man comes back with his sight restored.

Second scene

ü  The neighbors of the man were divided among themselves over the identity of this man who was blind and now could see. 

ü  He kept repeating “it is I”    

ü  How can you see? He told them the man called Jesus anointed my eyes with clay, I washed my eyes and I see

ü  Where is that man? I do not know.  

Third Scene

ü  They brought the man that had been blind to the Pharisees. John says that when Jesus cured the man it was a Sabbath.  The Pharisees had interpreted the law about the Sabbath in a very strict way; to make clay was already a work that could not be done.   

ü  There is a dialogue very interesting and a bit ironic between the Pharisees, man who knew the Law  and that poor ignorant beggar. We can imagine how they considered that man, who in spite of his poverty and former blindness had a lot of wisdom and common sense; the wisdom given by God to every human being. 

ü  This man cannot belong to God because he works on the Sabbath… they were divided among themselves about this.

ü  What do you say ? They ask the man that had been blind, “he is a prophet.”    

ü  They sent the man away and called his parents.  

Fourth Scene

ü  To be sure that this was really the blind man, they asked his parents  

ü  Is he your son? Yes  

ü  How come he sees now? We do not know, ask him he is of age.  

ü  His parents did not want to have problems with the religious authorities.  

ü  We do not know if they stay to hear the second part of the conversation of their son with the authorities.    

Fifth Scene   

ü  They call the man again to continue their interrogatory.  

ü  Give glory to God, we know that, that man is a sinner.   

ü  If he is a sinner or not, I do not know, what I know is that he has given me back my sight.  

ü  How did he open your eyes?   

ü  Why do you ask me again? Do you want to become his disciples?  

ü  You will be his disciple, we are disciples of Moses. And God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where that man comes from.    

ü  This is what is amazing, that you do not know where he comes from, but what is true is that he has opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. (that man knew well that only God can do miracles)  

ü  Faced with the wisdom of this poor and simple man, without any status in society, the leaders feel threaten and they expel him from the Synagogue.  

Sixth Scene

This is the climax of the story, the revelation of Jesus to that man. Jesus revealed himself as Messiah to the Samaritan woman, today he reveals himself as Son of Man to the blind man.  

ü  Jesus comes to meet the man. God always takes the initiative to encounter us.

ü  Do you believe in the Son of man?  Who is he?  He who speaks to you. I believe.   

ü  Jesus manifesting in a loud voice what was in his heart, says the reason for him to have come to this world. It is to make the blind see and those who believe they see help them to realize they are blind and thus ask him for help.

ü  The Pharisees said, do you think that we are blind also? No, because if you were blind you would not be responsible, but you know and you do not want to see and thus change your life.     

ü  Let us put ourselves in place of this man and let us read the Gospel putting our name instead of the name of the blind man. Let us ask us if our faith is like the faith of the blind man or like that of the Pharisees. In whom do we believe?    Whom do we follow?

Saint Anthony Mary Claret - Later on Claret  understands the call to evangelize which gushes from his inner being,   like the experience of Jeremiah:    “…There seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones and although I wanted to quench it, I could not do it” (20,9); it was the grace of Christ himself which overflowed from his heart, by the Spirit.

We may draw a first conclusion: the apostolic vocation of Claret within the Church has come from his contemplation of Christ the evangelizer through the passage of Is 61,1.

Venerable María Antonia París - As a conclusion we may say that the Initial Experience had a decisive influence in her future life, especially because God imprinted in her soul the evangelical ideal that the Church was called to live, and within it the Religious Life.  This is the origin of her deep ecclesial spirituality.

With this experience María Antonia is open to the whole Church, not to some need of the people of God, but to the renewal of the Church as such to help her to regain the face of Christ through her continuous conversion.  She will have a strong love of the evangelical poverty.  The lack of this virtue has been the cause of the evils that the Church is suffering.  (Both fragments about Claret and Paris are my translation from the book Two Pens Guided by the Same Spirit whose original is in Spanish)