(The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on the fourth Sunday of Lent at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.)
The images in today's three scripture readings are concrete and real: anointing with oil, light dispelling darkness and a blind man seeing clearly and fully.
In today's first reading from the First Book of Samuel, a handsome young man named David is chosen by God to be the King of Israel and anointed precisely to take over that leadership role. “There — anoint him, for this is the one!” So spoke God to Samuel. “[A]nd from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David.”
In today's second reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, the image of light dispelling the darkness is dominant. “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”
In today's third reading from St. John's Gospel, a man born blind is cured by Christ and given full sight. “[Jesus] spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, 'Go wash in the Pool of Siloam' — which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back able to see.”
Each of these images relates to us as disciples of the Lord Jesus. Each of us has been chosen by the Lord to belong to Him, to be a member of His people. That choice was absolutely made at our Baptism when we were reborn of water and the Holy Spirit. At our Baptism, we too were anointed with the oil of catechumens and with sacred chrism. “We anoint you with the oil of salvation…. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation.” At our Baptism, we too were called to be a light and given a lit candle to symbolize this call to walk as a child of the light. “Receive the light of Christ…. This child…has been enlightened by Christ…. May he or she keep the flame of faith alive in his or her heart.” In Baptism, the blindness of original sin — and for adults, of all personal sin — was removed, so that from that moment on, we could see with the eyes of faith.
Lent is intrinsically connected with Baptism. For those of us already baptized, Lent is the season for our reclaiming more firmly the identity and mission given us when we were baptized into Christ Jesus. Lent is the time for us to be cured of the blindness that sins have caused by coming to Christ in prayer and penance, asking Him to remove the blindness of sin and to restore us to sight — the ability to see again with the eyes of faith. Lent is the time for us to allow Christ to be our Light and to recommit ourselves to live as children of light with every kind of goodness and truth.
For those not yet baptized, Lent is the time for the final preparations and instructions prior to being baptized at the Easter Vigil. So, today our catechumens are taking part in the second scrutiny. We continue to support them with our prayer, asking the Lord to “free the elect from the false values that surround and blind them.” We ask that they may “rejoice in the light, that they may see” with the light of faith.
In the end, the images in today's three scripture readings are more than images. They become reality for us as we respond more fully to God's choice that we belong to Him and renew more firmly our commitment to see with the eyes of faith and to live as children of light, proclaiming Christ's truth and reflecting Christ's love. Amen.
