4th Sunday of Lent Reflection

Let God’s Light Illuminate The Dark
A Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent or Laetare Sunday
By Rev. Fr. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
An All Inclusive and Welcoming Old Catholic Parish and Ministry
Of the Independent Catholic Church of the Americas
Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org
Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Web Site: www.franciscansdivinemercy.org
This week’s TV Show link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKth4KUgmYc&list=UU8RuEVHpV5f7lEzckyVHKOg
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Link to St. Joseph Cupertino Parish: http://stjosephcupertino.com/index.html
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Link to the Independent Catholic Church of the Americas http://www.iccamericas.org/
Email Address: Divinemercyparish@msn.com


“The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” This is the Responsorial psalm for this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent and I must tell you that if you believe it in your heart, you will find nothing is truer.
In the Gospel we hear Christ say; “I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind’. John 9:39
The opening prayer for this Sunday is: Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation”
We are rejoicing because of the message of God’s infinite mercy and love is proclaimed loudly in all this Sundays Readings and prayers.
Christ is the light that brings truth and justice to all who believe, Christ came to enlighten us and to teach us the way to seek our happiness here on earth as well as to gain for us Eternal happiness.

Paul's letter to the Ephesians he tells us: “You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. …. That is why it is said: Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:8 – 14

All around us today we see darkness and it is necessary for us to turn on the light to dispel that darkness. So how do we bring the light of truth into the world? We do it by placing our lives in God's hands and by living according to the way Christ taught us. First we have to acknowledge that every person on the face of this planet is a child of God and deserves respect, dignity, compassion and love.
I recall a quote of Mother Teresa of Calcutta who said; “God told us, "Love your neighbor as yourself." So first I am to love myself rightly, and then to love my neighbor like that. But how can I love myself unless I accept myself as God has made me?” ( Mother Teresa)
By accepting our self as God made us and making the best of the gifts God gave us for the benefit of all our brothers and sisters in Christ, we take a huge step toward dispelling the darkness that depresses us and discourages us.

The Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday is a prayer attributed to King David. It is a prayer that, if we say it daily, can remind us of all God does for us and of how much we need to attempt to return the favor by helping those who are caught in the darkness of discontent, poverty, and illness. We need to reject the enticement of those who listen to the voice of darkness by seeking only self-glorification, power, money and physical pleasure.
The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. …. Truly goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. For long years I shall live in the house of the Lord. Psalm 22 (23)
Mother Teresa reminds us: “Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the Darkness”.

In the Chinese Han philosophy the world is divided into two segments, Yin (Earth) and Yang (Heaven).
Yin is depicted as black or darkness and Yang is depicted by White or light. Many also describe Yin and Yang as being Good and Bad, Day and Night, and all agree that they are in opposition to each other but also they exist in all things, just as the inclination for good and evil exist in every person which may well be that often there is a spot of black in the white and white in the black.
The concept is that people who do not know what bad is cannot know what good is. Christ clearly came to enlighten us as to what good is and how we were to act as children of God. Christ came to dispel the darkness.

Think about your favorite horror movie and how most evil things happen in the darkness.

Safety Officers tell us that having lights around our house at night is a deterrent to thieves. Light dispels darkness and fear and the light Christ brought into the world was a light of truth, justice and God's will for us.
The Gospel of John 9:1-41 is the story of how Jesus cured the blind man. It is another reminder of how Christ brings light into the world. A man born blind has lived his entire life in darkness. The story tells how after Jesus brought sight to the blind man he went to the Synagogue and how the Pharisees
claimed Christ was from Satan because he cured the man on the Sabbath “This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the Sabbath” when they questioned the man's parents they replied thusly “We know he is our son and we know he was born blind, but we do not know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ His parents spoke like this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ.”

In my mind, not much has changed today. There are still people who refuse to acknowledge Christ and some who do select the parts of Christ's teachings that suit their own agenda but reject the most important teaching of Christ “Love one another as I have loved you”. They do not accept ALL God's children but only those that reflect their skin color or nationality or social and political orientation.

Christ welcomed all who came to Him. Just as His father will welcome and love ALL His children even those who have wandered away like the Prodigal son's father welcomed his son who had strayed away with joy and feasting when he returned humble and sorrowful for his actions. God, Our heavenly Father, will welcome all also who return to Him with sorrow for their failures.
When the darkness is dispelled and we walk in the light of Christ, even the most difficult situations seem to have a ray of hope.
The Gospel story ends with these words “It is for judgment that I have come into the world, so that those without sight may see...........If you were blind you would not be guilty but since you say “We See” Your guilt remains.”
In his Lenten letter, Pope Francis focused the theme on relieving the poverty that invades so many areas of life these days.
Here are a few comments from that letter we might want to ponder upon; As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9). What do these words of Saint Paul mean for us Christians today? What does this invitation to poverty, a life of evangelical poverty, mean to us today? Christ’s grace
First of all, it shows us how God works. He does not reveal himself cloaked in worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness and poverty: "…. God’s becoming man is a great mystery! But the reason for all this is his love, a love which is grace, generosity, a desire to draw near, a love which does not hesitate to offer itself in sacrifice for the beloved. Charity, love, is sharing with the one we love in all things. Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down walls and eliminates distances.
God did not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms from their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s love is different!
It has been said that the only real regret lies in not being a saint (L. Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.
Our witness
In imitation of our Master, we Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it. Destitution is not the same as poverty: destitution is poverty without faith, without support, without hope. There are three types of destitution: material, moral and spiritual.
Material destitution is what is normally called poverty, and affects those living in conditions opposed to human dignity: those who lack basic rights and needs such as food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity to develop and grow culturally. In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ. Our efforts are also directed to ending violations of human dignity, discrimination and abuse in the world, for these are so often the cause of destitution. When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality, and simplicity and sharing.
No less a concern is moral destitution, which consists in slavery to vice and sin. …. How many people no longer see meaning in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope! And how many are plunged into this destitution by unjust social conditions, by unemployment, which takes away their dignity as breadwinners, and by lack of equal access to education and health care. In such cases, moral destitution can be considered impending suicide. This type of destitution, which also causes financial ruin, is invariably linked to the spiritual destitution which we experience when we turn away from God and reject his love. If we think we don’t need God who reaches out to us though Christ, because we believe we can make do on our own, we are headed for a fall. God alone can truly save and free us.
Dear brothers and sisters, Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.
May the Holy Spirit, through whom we are "as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything" (2 Cor 6:10), sustain us in our resolutions and increase our concern and responsibility for human destitution, so that we can become merciful and act with mercy. In expressing this hope, I likewise pray that each individual member of the faithful and every Church community will undertake a fruitful Lenten journey. Let us rejoice in the Light of God’s infinite mercy and love and extend that love to all we encounter”.
We have been shown the Light, the Way and provided with the Truth in Jesus Christ. This week begins with Laetare Sunday when the Church interrupts her Lenten mournfulness and instead of purple, rose-colored vestments, flowers adorn the altar and music is are used so there is a contrast between Laetare Sunday and the other Sundays of Lent is thus emphasized, and is emblematic of the joys of this life, restrained rejoicing mingled with a certain amount of sadness. The message for this Sunday is one of hope because it speaks of God's truth and the promise of finding truth in the Light of Christ.
As the light of the world, Jesus has come to enlighten people about God and show us the way to gain everlasting life. The blind man represents us and Jesus curing the man born blind represents how Jesus Teachings bring the message of God's truth to us and lights our way to salvation if we live our lives in a manner consistent with Christ's teachings.
I close this reflection with the opening prayer for this Sunday: “Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”
The Eucharist we receive is the bread of life because the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ - which provides us with the graces - or “Spiritual vitamins”- to persevere in our journey of following the light of Christ in our daily lives.
It is not enough for us to say “I believe” but we need to also live the faith by having our actions reflect the teachings of Christ and thereby keep the light of truth bright. AMEN