LAETARE SUNDAY REFLECTION

"HE HAS CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS OWN WONDERFUL LIGHT" 

(1 PETER 2:9).

Laetare Sunday: the Gospel moment when we glimpse the glorious Light of New Life in the Resurrection, when our Lenten sacrifices are paused and our souls strain toward the splendour of our rising in the Risen Christ.

In the Gospel on this day of joy, when we quietly step into the Gospel scene, we may find ourselves made speechless by what we witness as the events unfold. 

    Jesus Lord "was passing by and saw a man blind from birth" (John 9:1-41).

Perhaps we notice that the blind man did not ask the disciples to lead him to Jesus to ask for healing. We don't hear the man addressing Jesus so we may infer the possibility that he had never heard of this Healer. He was simply a blind man, standing at the wayside, listening to the disciples of Jesus asking the Lord if the man's blindness was the result of the sins of his parents.

The man born blind is completely silent.  

Our minds may remember the little petition: "Lord, be near to those who seek You without knowing it" ( Liturgy of the Hours). 

And the Lord draws near to the man born blind whose life then changes for ever.

                                              

                      We hear the Lord Jesus speak....

                                          

                      "'As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'

                         ... he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle 

                                 and spread the clay on his eyes" (John 9:1-41).

   And Christ Jesus gives a man born blind the light of life, physical light and, as the remainder of the Gospel testifies, spiritual light; a man who had never known daylight and who had dwelt also in a profound spiritual darkness.

We may pause to ponder in prayer: who are we in this Gospel miracle moment?

At the moment of our Creation ... 

                   "... the Lord God formed man from the clay of the earth, 

                       and he breathed into his face the breath of life, 

                                  and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7).

            

   At the beginning of time, God, Creator, uses 'clay' and forms us, gives us life from the dust: the Breath of God breathes into our being and our soul is given life in God.

       At that moment in Genesis, we are physically formed into a living being from the 'clay' of the earth.
       At that moment in John's Gospel, Jesus Lord, God, "spat on the ground and made 'clay'.

      He touches the blind man ... us; He re-forms our 'clay,' breathes new spiritual sight into our souls, and we become a living soul in Himself.

     Jesus, Lord, God, "as long as He is in the world," never stops loving us into new life in Him.

We were, we are, and we always will be, spiritually re-formed and re-created, endlessly, in Love, into Himself.                                   

"Why are we in this world? The great reason is that God is Love and that He has loved us. He created you out of love, He called you out of love, and this love remains alive. What He has loved, He still loves; what He has given, He will never take away. As St. Paul, who deeply understood God’s nature, reminds us: “The gifts of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29), and what He has begun, He will bring to completion!

God cannot let us go, He cannot abandon us, because He loves us. Our great hope is God; our great hope is eternity! He sees all things in truth and clarity, while we only see appearances. He sees us in our eternal reality. He longs to share His vision with us,  to awaken our hope in this eternal reality" (Pere Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus). 

CHRIST IS THE LIGHT LIFTING US OUT OF OUR BLINDING SPIRITUAL DARKNESS.

And in His Love, He transforms us into ...

"THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD; ...

WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE"

(John 9:1-41).

                        THIS IS LAETARE SUNDAY: A DAY OF HOLY JOY.