The Gift God Has Given Us

Dear Friend,

This week, Laetare Sunday (Rejoice!) we're drawing closer to the celebration of the Easter sacraments for our brothers and sisters to be baptized and confirmed and receive their first holy communion.  For all of us who gather with them in prayer and support, the scriptures we hear this Sunday call us to go deeper in allowing the light of God's healing to touch and change us.

The final verses of each of our readings for this Fourth Sunday of Lent give us a jumping off point for our path of rejoicing, while at the same time taking that next step toward a fuller vision of ourselves - not always easy.

The story of David's call to kingship directs us to the anointing of our baptism and confirmation.  It ends with these words:  "...From that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David."  It was not David's outward appearance that prompted the call; but rather what God saw in him.  The Holy Spirit touches the gift God has given us, the gift often hidden, out of sight.

Our text from Ephesians this week concludes "Awake, O sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will give you light." The deadness of certain patterns of thinking and behaving give way to change in the light of Christ's love. St. Paul could even be talking to his "old self" with these words.  HIs own conversion continued to "dawn" on him after an initial blast of light.

The story of the man born blind ends in the most confounding way of all.  Jesus says to the Pharisees “[B]ut now you are saying, ‘We see’, so your sin remains.  Awake indeed!  The one whose vision is restored by Jesus stands in stark contrast to those who refuse the healing touch.  It's a challenge for all of us to look deeper!

Gratefully,

Father Dan ofm, Pastor