April 3, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Lent A
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is here before him." But the LORD said to Samuel: "Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart." 1 Samuel 6:6-7
The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage. You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come. Psalm 23
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Ephesians 5:8-9
They answered and said to him, "You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?" Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him. John 9:34-38
Piety
The light that shines in our world is a faint reflection of the light of Christ. When Christ comes in all his power and glory, there will be no need of the moon that gives light to the night or the sun that gives the brighter light to the day. Christ will be the light of the world. His brightness will make all reflect his glory. He will give light to our souls. We will understand in the light of Christ all the questions we had no answer to in our lives. He will give the deeper meaning of life in him to all the questions of our heart. He will be the light of God’s love claiming our hearts in the once and forever of God’s love that we now only see as a sparkle of our prayer or in the reflection of the light within that is seen in a good person. Christ will take away our blindness. We will see our world as it is meant to be in the plan of God. We will be able to see beyond appearances. All the wonders of creation will reveal to us the light in God’s love for us. When Christ tells us that he is t he light of the world, he gives us the definition of God’s love that has come into the world in his very person. When he takes away our blindness we will see Christ as the fullness of God’s love in his very humanness. The Cross of Christ is not only his throne in our world that claims our hearts. It is also the fullness of what is possible to love. When we come to love the crosses in our lives it will be simply because they will be our claim to fame in heaven. Piety is the light of Christ in our lives.
Study
Samuel in his quest to anoint the next king of the Israelites looks at the sons of Jesse with the light of the choice of the Lord. There is a plan for each of us in the design of God and Samuel is able with the light of God’s plan to choose David over all the others sons of Jesse. The light of God‘s love touches our hearts. The heart has reasons the mind will never understand. We study the ways of God so that our hearts will reveal to us the light of God’s love for us in Christ. The Lord is our shepherd and he guides us in the right paths by his love even when we are walking the dark valley. It is the footsteps of Christ that the light of the Lord makes clear to us as we follow God’s plan in our lives. We find the path we should walk when our prayer reveals our path in the light of Christ. Discernment is what the light of Christ offers us. We learn by looking at Christ to discern the right path that leads us to our destiny in Christ.
Action
Each moment of our life is surrounded by the love of God. God creates us in his love and offers his love to us at each moment now of our lives. The light of Christ sets the path we would follow if we want to remain in the house of the Lord for the years to come. Our hearts reveal to us the footsteps of the Lord we are meant to follow. We awaken from our darkness to the light of the Lord. The story of the blind man becomes our story as we recognize what is asked of us by what we see to be done in our world by looking through the eyes of Christ from the cross to see why he is being put to death. The love of Christ challenges us to love one another even as he has loved us. Our love for the Christ of the Cross gives us the light to see where we can best give ourselves to keep the light of the Lord shining in the darkness of the sin of the world. Christ is the Light of the World. We are called to be his light to our world.
