Fourth Week of Lent 2008

Reflection for The Fourth Week of Lent (Year A)…

Readings for
Fourth Sunday of Lent (A)
(Laetare Sunday)
2 March 2008

1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
Psalm 22
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41

Never thirst again…

In the Gospel today we have a blind man whose eyes are opened by Jesus.  But the story has even greater relevance.  The opening of the man’s eyes symbolises the opening of the disciples’ eyes to faith.

We might think because we are not blind physically we may imagine that the gospel story has no relevance for us. It is precisely because we can see that it has relevance for us. The question is how well do we see?  The blind man in the gospel story saw more than the religious leaders in the sense that he had more faith in Jesus than they had.  The Pharisees had perfect eyesight but had no faith in Jesus.

There are many forms of blindness besides physical blindness. In some ways these are just as crippling. 

Some examples:

  • Selfishness blinds us to the needs of others;
  • Insensitivity blinds us to the hurt we’re causing others;
  • Snobbery blinds us to the equal dignity of others;
  • Pride blinds us to our own faults;
  • Hurry blinds us to the beauty of the world around us;
  • Materialism blinds us to spiritual values;
  • Superficiality blinds us to a person’s true worth.

In what areas of my life am I blind and need to cry out “Lord that I may see!”?.

– James Kirstein SMA
Blackrock Road, Cork

 

Previous articleThird Week of Lent 2008
Next articleFifth Week of Lent 2008