Gospel: Laetare Sunday

Today marks the Fourth Sunday of Lent, and the Gospel will be proclaimed according to St John (tap here for today's Mass readings from USCCB).

As we did last week, we are reading today from the Gospel of St John. In today's Gospel, the healing of the man born blind invites us to focus on the physical and spiritual aspects of sight and light. In t parents. he first part of today's Gospel, we hear Jesus' response to a prevalent belief of his time: that misfortune and disability were the result of sin. That belief is why Jesus is asked the question whose sin caused the man's blindness--his own or his parents'. Jesus does not answer directly, but instead gives the question an entirely different dimension--through this man's disability, God's power will be made manifest. Jesus then heals the man.

The healing is controversial because Jesus heals on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, the religious authorities of Jesus' time, understood that the law of Moses forbade work (including healing) on the Sabbath. They also have trouble believing that Jesus performed a miracle. To determine whether the man was really born blind, the Pharisees question him and his parents. The man challenges the leaders of the synagogue about their assessment of the good that Jesus has done. In turn, they expel the man for questioning their judgment.

The final revelation and moment of enlightenment comes when the man born blind encounters Jesus again. Having heard the news of his expulsion, Jesus seeks out the man born blind and reveals himself as the Son of Man. In this moment, the man born blind shows himself to be a man of faith and worships Jesus. Jesus replies by identifying the irony of the experience of many who encounter Jesus: Those who are blind will now see, and those who think they now see will be found to be blind.

As in last week's Gospel about Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman, today's reading gas many allusions to Baptism. The washing of the man in the pool of Siloam is a prototype for Christian Baptism. Through the man's encounter with Jesus, the man born blind is healed, his sight is restored, and his conversion to discipleship begins. The man born blind gradually comes to a greater understanding about who Jesus is and what it means to be a disciple, while the Pharisees (those who should see) are the ones who remain blind.

The fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare Sunday. The term is derived from the opening words of the Latin Mass, "Rejoice (Laetare) Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:10). The Church is called to joyful anticipation of the glory of the Resurrection.

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