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)
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