Fourth Sunday of Lent
• Laetare Sunday • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II
✝️ Today's Mass Readings
First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41
📖 The Gospel - John 9:1-41
Jesus sees a man
blind from birth. His disciples ask, " Who sinned, this man or his parents?" Jesus
says neither. This happened so that the works of God might be made visible
through him. He makes clay, anoints the man's eyes, and tells him to wash in the
Pool of Siloam. The man goes, washes, and comes back seeing. And the rest of
the chapter is one of the most extraordinary escalations in all of Scripture,
as the formerly blind man's sight grows clearer and clearer, and the Pharisees
who can physically see grow more and more blind.
🙏 Gospel Reflection
Laetare Sunday: The
Sunday of joy in the middle of Lent. The Church puts on rose vestments today as
a reminder that we are more than halfway on our journey to Easter. And the Gospel
gives us the man born blind. Because what better image for Easter than a man
who has never seen, who has lived his whole life in darkness, suddenly seeing
light for the first time.
Samuel's anointing of David in the first
reading sets the week's theme perfectly: God does not see as human beings see.
They look at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. The brothers of
David were tall and impressive and looked every inch like kings. And God passed
them all by and chose the youngest, the smallest, the one out in the field with
the sheep. God consistently sees differently than we do.
The man born blind sees Jesus more and more
clearly as the chapter unfolds, first he is a man named Jesus, then he is a
prophet, and finally, when Jesus reveals Himself, the man simply says, Lord, I
believe. And he worshipped Him. Meanwhile, the Pharisees who began the chapter
with eyes that worked end it completely blind, unable to see what is standing
right in front of them.
Paul says it so clearly in Ephesians today,
once you were in darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of
light. That is the invitation of this Laetare Sunday. You have been given
sight. Walk in it. Don't stumble back into the darkness of a life half-lived
and half-committed. The light has been turned on. Walk in it all the way to
Easter.
💭 Reflection Question
What is the area of
your life where you have been choosing to stay in the dark, where the light of
Christ is available, but you have not yet been willing to walk into it fully?
What would it mean to wash in the Pool of Siloam today and come back seeing?
📿 Today's Rosary - The Sorrowful Mysteries
Today's Focus
Mystery: The Carrying of the
Cross
The man born blind
received his sight and immediately faced rejection, interrogation, and
expulsion from the synagogue. His new sight cost him something. Following the
light always does. As you pray these beads today, ask for the courage not just
to receive your sight but to walk in it, even when the road it reveals leads
through difficulty before it leads to Easter.
🌹 Our Lady of Fatima - Today's Connection
Samuel anointed David, saying, God does not see as human beings see. Our Lady of Fatima embodies that
divine sight perfectly. She saw what the world could not see, the spiritual
danger, the souls in need, the urgency of the moment, and she came with eyes of
mercy to open the eyes of those who would listen. The Rosary is a school of
divine sight. Every mystery trains our eyes to see as God sees, to see the
cross as the path to resurrection, to see the sinner as a soul God is running
toward, to see the blind man not as someone being punished but as a canvas for
the works of God. Pray your Rosary today with fresh eyes, friends. It is Laetare
Sunday: Rejoice. Easter is coming.
🕊️ Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are
the Light of the world. Wherever I have been walking in darkness, by choice, by
habit, by fear, open my eyes today. Let me wash in whatever Pool of Siloam You
are pointing me toward and come back seeing. I want to walk as a child of light
all the way to Easter. Amen.
©2026 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
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