Readings 031526
Blessed be God. Praise be to Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen. Come Holy Spirit, fill us with joy, set our hearts ablaze with Your presence.
Today, we wear Rose to pause the penitential tone on this 4th Sunday of Lent to invite a moment of joy, encouragement, and hope.
I come to share this story that I’ve told before. Because, it is too perfect for the Scriptures today not to share again.
When I had my cataract surgery, the doctor finished up and said,
“Well… how’s that working for you?”
I looked around the operating room—everything suddenly sharp, bright, alive— and I shouted,
“I can see! I can see!”
My wife heard me from the waiting room.
I’m pretty sure she laughed at me.
And honestly… I don’t blame her.
But that moment—
joy, hope, and sudden clarity—
is exactly what God is asking of us today.
Across every reading, God is asking one simple question: “Will you let Me change the way you see?”
If you’ve ever had corrective surgery…
or gotten glasses after years of fuzzy eyesight…
you know the feeling.
You didn’t realize how much you were missing
until the world came into focus.
And today, God wants to bring your soul into focus.
We hear about Samuel the prophet—a holy man— and even he gets it wrong.
He looks at Jesse’s sons and thinks,
“Surely this one… surely that one…”
But God interrupts him:
“Not as man sees does God see.”
“The LORD looks into the heart.”
“The heart is the place of decision… the place of encounter” (CCC 2563).
God sees the heart.
We are called to see with God’s eyes.
He wants us to learn to see with
His clarity—His mercy—His truth.
“Samuel, your eyes are good…
but your vision is off.”
It is the same with us,
Our eyes may work fine…
but our vision—
the way we judge, assume, and label— needs healing.
Paul reminds us: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
Friends, did you hear the words of Paul,
Not in the dark.
Not surrounded by darkness.
Paul says we were darkness.
And now in Christ— we are light.
Following Christ we step out of the shadows to live as children of the light.
Baptism gives us “the true light” (CCC 1216).
We are meant to live in that light—
to let it reveal, heal, and transform us.
Light doesn’t just help us see.
Light exposes—Light restores—
Light makes all things new.
In the Gospel, we meet the man born blind—
a man who has never seen a sunrise.
He has never seen the face of his parents,
Or even his own reflection.
Jesus kneels down, spits into the dirt,
makes clay—like Genesis—
and places it on the man’s eyes.
Jesus touches the man’s blindness—
the hidden, painful place.
And, He shows us the path
every one of us is invited to walk.
Surrender and allow Jesus to reach into the parts of our lives we would rather keep covered.
Let Jesus touch what we cannot fix. Allow Jesus’ healing to reshape our lives.
The man’s healing costs him his place, his support, his identity —
yet he keeps standing in the light.
I can imagine his words, after he went to the Pool of Siloam and washed away his blindness for joy, hope, and clarity…
“I can see! I can see!”
The man receives more than sight—
It was conversion.
It was not just about the miracle.
It was Jesus. He receives the Savior
He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
Faith is not the miracle. It is first the person,“a personal relationship to God”
To want Jesus Himself,
not just what Jesus can do for us.
From that comes the Humility to stand before God saying, Lord, I need You. I cannot see without You.
Because the only hearts Jesus cannot heal
are the ones convinced they already see perfectly.
Every reading today— leads us to one invitation from God: Will you let Me change the way you see— yourself, others, your life, and Me?
It is letting God show us the heart.
Letting God shepherd us.
Letting God’s light expose and heal what is hidden.
Letting God open our eyes, even when it disrupts our life.
Letting God reveal our blindness so He can give us sight.
And maybe—just maybe—
God brings us surprise and joy…
A moment of hope,
when everything becomes clear…
and all you can say is:
“I can see! I can see!.”
Be good, be holy.
Let the world see in you
the Good News of Jesus Christ
by the way you live your life
and love one another.
Praise be to Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen.
