Today’s Sunday is traditionally called Laetare Sunday. It is called so following the first word of the opening antiphon: "Rejoice, Jerusalem and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were mourning, exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast." Laetare means Rejoice and therefore this Sunday is a Sunday of joy. The joy of this Sunday is a symbol of life; amidst all sadness in life, there is always some joy. It marks the half of the Lenten season (though strictly speaking, it is on Thursday of the third Sunday of Lent) and Easter is enticingly near. The vestments worn by the celebrant are rose-colored, not violet. Laetare Sunday is paralleled to Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent.
This Sunday is also important because it is the day of the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults on the Easter Vigil. The Church’s liturgy invites us to retrace one of the fundamental dynamics of our baptismal re-birth through the Gospel account of the healing of the ‘man born blind’. It is the passage from the darkness of sin and error to the Light of God, who is the Risen Christ. Christ himself declared “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus was the Light Who came to dispel all darkness, and now He illustrates this fact by opening the eyes of the blind man in today's gospel, unique to this Sunday.
The washing in the river by a blind man to regain his sight invites us to the renewal and remembrance of our baptismal promises so that we should walk in the light of Christ. St Paul invites us in today's second reading to be children of the light for we are longer in darkness as we were before Christ which will be seen in our complete goodness and right living, having nothing to do with futile works and doing things in darkness. The past Sundays of lent have invited us to repent, to leave our old ways and embrace Christ, to leave the actions of darkness to walk in the light of God and to return to God. This Sunday invites us to put into actions and practice what we have been invited to do.
The anointing of David by Samuel in the first reading shows us that God's light penetrates the mere physical appearances to our hearts. God sees the heart but we human beings see the physical appearance (1 Sam 16:76). It also points to the anointing of the Messiah Jesus Christ. David after being anointed the Spirit of the Lord remained upon him, and so was Jesus who was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. This anointment presupposes a mission to undertake, the mission of God, for David was to be a king over his people, shepherd his people so that they may lack nothing (today's psalm) and for Jesus to save his people from all their sins and be God's light to the world. As Christians we were all anointed at baptism, confirmation and even some at ordination meaning we are given a special mission to undertake; how far have we gone with our mission, and how have we lived our mission in the way of light and pure of heart.
Since God looks at the heart, it is in our heart that we meet God, he speaks to us to do good and invites us to walk in light, live in light, and walk in truth. The word ‘heart’ the Bible doesn’t mean the centre of pulsation, but man’s conscience where he can really listen and recognise God’s voice and so benefit from the Light: ‘for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth’. (Eph 5:9). That is why St Paul, and this Sunday liturgy of the second scrutiny emphasizes clearly that the preparation of a person coming to the faith is one of moral formation as well as in-formation about the faith. The preparation of adults to be baptized has more to do with choices and deeds than it does with dogmatic teaching. Therefore, it's an invitation for people to be baptised to choose through their conscience what is good and to accept the light of God and to walk in it.
Jesus heals a blind man so that he will not only walk in the physical light but also the spiritual light of grace, free from darkness of sin. We too have been exposed to the light of Christ, but most times we prefer darkness than light, we struggle to see the daily miracles of God’s grace alive in our lives and alive in the lives of others, we become incapable of remaining faithful to the truth that is in him, we fall back to our own limited criteria. These criteria produce every malice, injustice and falsehood in us. And when we use it govern ourselves, to decide between good and evil, whilst hoping that what we obtain will be to our benefit, we are acting ‘like God’ (Gen 3:5) which is a grave sin. This is totally walking in the darkness and blindness. Our Prayer thus should be Lord I want to see and be washed purely of all my iniquities.
Our invitation today is to start a new journey of light which will take us to the light of Easter. By remembering our baptismal promises, we deny everything related to Satan and so walk in the light of Christ. To walk in this light, we have to emulate Christ by doing the right thing in line with God our father, being truthful and exposing that which comes from darkness, desisting from taking part in the unfruitful works of darkness and stopping judging others even by their appearances.
Let us Pray.
For the spiritual sight that we may be able to walk in light and shun all acts of evil and darkness. That the Lord may come to us and dwell within us and enlighten the depths of our hearts so that we may be pleasing to him and also be a source of enlightenment to others. May God be our shepherd so that we shall never lack any thing. Amen
May Christ light shine on my heart always.
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