19 March 2023
Fourth Sunday of Lent
The readings of today’s liturgy are intimately related to the mystery of our baptism as Christians. We Christians are those who have accepted Jesus as “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5); we “were once darkness, but now … are light in the world” (Eph 5:8). As Jesus gave sight to the man born blind, so at our baptism we were freed from the blindness of sin. And with the man born blind, who perceived clearly who Jesus was, we have said to Jesus, “I do believe, Lord,” professing our faith in him, and now we worship the Son of Man (John 9:38).
Though our Christian life begins with baptism, it does not end there. As Paul tells the Ephesisans, we must “live as children of the light” (Eph 5:8). This call to live in the light is why at our baptism we—or our parents on our behalf—accepted a candle lit from the Paschal candle, a symbol of the light of Christ, to remind us to “walk always as children of the light” (Order of Baptism of Children, no. 64). Walking as children of the light requires a continual conversion and deepening of the baptismal grace on our part, lest we, like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, grow complacent and say to the Lord, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” (John 9:40).
So today, let us contemplate Jesus, the true light of the world who frees us from spiritual blindness, rejoicing in the gift he has given us in baptism. And let us also ask him to continually illuminate our spiritual sight, showing us the areas in our life where we need his light to penetrate more deeply, so that we can walk as children of the light.