DAILY- HOMILY

March 30, 2014
Fourth Sunday of Lent 
[Laetare Sunday]

1 Sm 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a / Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (1) / Eph 5: 8-14 / Jn 9: 1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

First Reading: 1 Sm 16:1b. 6-7. 10-13a
Yahweh asked Samuel, "How long will you be grieving over Saul whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have chosen my king from among his sons. As they came, Samuel looked at Eliab the older and thought, "This must be Yahweh's anointed." But Yahweh told Samuel, "Do not judge by his looks or his stature for I have rejected him. Yahweh does not judge as man judges; humans see with the eyes; Yahweh sees the heart." Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel who said, "Yahweh has chosen none of them. But are all your sons here?" Jesse replied, "There is still the youngest, tending the flock just now." Samuel said to him, "Send for him and bring him to me; we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives." So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him to Samuel. He was a handsome lad with ruddy complexion and beautiful eyes. And Yahweh spoke, "Go, anoint him for he is the one." Samuel then took the horn of oil and anointed him in his brothers' presence. From that day onwards, Yahweh's Spirit took hold of David.

Second Reading: Eph 5:8-14
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth in every form. You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead.  Indeed it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light. Therefore it is said: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you."

Gospel: Jn 9:1,6-9, 13-17, 34-38
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. As Jesus said this, he made paste with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then he said, "Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam." (This name means sent.) So he went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbors and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, "Isn't this the beggar who used to sit here?" Some said, "It's the one."  Others said, "No, but he looks like him."  But the man himself said, "I am the one." The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, "How did you recover your sight?" And he said, "He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath"; but others wondered, "How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?" They were divided and they questioned the blind man again, "What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?" And he answered, "He is a prophet." They answered him, "You were born a sinner and now you teach us!" And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "Who is he, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said, "You have seen him and he is speaking to you. He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him.

Reflection: 
     Blindness is one of those preventable diseases that afflict the Philippine population. An estimated half a million people in the country are blind and according to the experts these could have been prevented. The leading cause of blindness is cataract, and the cure is simple but usually not available or too expensive in the Philippines. About 100 children lose their sight due to poor nutrition, measles or premature birth. 
     We see blind people boarding buses or trying to cross the street. How they are able to use their other senses to move around is something that continues to amaze us. But two thousand years ago the roads were primitive and there were no street audio tones to guide the blind. So it must have been a real joy for the blind to be given sight by Jesus. During that time, blindness was attributed to the sinfulness of one's parents. But Jesus corrected that false assumption when he, out of compassion and love, restored the sight of the blind man.  At first the crowd did not believe the cured blind man's story saying that he just looked like the blind beggar they knew. When questioned by the Pharisees the once blind man stated firmly that it was Jesus who gave him his sight by putting clay on his eyes. When pressured to condemn Jesus, the man told the Pharisees that Jesus was a prophet. This infuriated the authorities and since they could not counter his argument, they threw him out. Having heard this, Jesus offered the man the gift of faith and he confessed that Jesus was the Son of God and he worshipped him.
     The story of the blind man is not simply about physical blindness, but about spiritual blindness that hinders the development in one's relationship with God and others. People struggle with spiritual blindness on their journey towards the eternal home. While physical blindness can be cured by modern technology, spiritual blindness is still a problem today. John the Evangelist was more concerned with the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. They were too stubborn to see anything good in what Jesus did.
     In our case, one of our blind spots is the temptation to make God irrelevant in our lives since we think science and technology can solve most of our physical problems. But that is where the illusion lies. Technology does not solve our spiritual hunger for the meaning of life and for a relationship with God. St. Augustine rightly puts it: "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." Another blind spot is putting an enormous amount of time and energy at accumulating wealth at the expense of our spiritual growth. When he was here on earth, Jesus depended on the generosity of his friends for his ministry. What we need to avoid is greed that can lead us to accumulate wealth for our own pleasure completely ignoring the needs of others. The third blind spot is dependence on gadgets which can prevent us from directly communicating with others. Nowadays, everyone has a cell phone or a tablet. How often do we see people of all ages holding and using these gadgets rather than converse with the members of the family or the persons they are with. They have lost the art of conversation or cease to be civil and to listen to one another. The satisfaction of their pleasure has made them blind to others.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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