INSIGHTS OF JESUS, 4th Sunday of Lent,2026

Since the Scriptures for the 4th Sunday of Lent are packed with meaning., Father, Louis Gives Give two homilies for this Sunday As  we commemorate the man born blind who becomes an evangelist.

Transcript

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This is John's gospel, and we've been using a lot of John through Lent this season. And we hear the word sign over and over in the scriptures today, because John doesn't refer to the miracles of Jesus that we refer to as miracles. He refers to them as signs. And this is the fourth of the great signs. The first one we all know as Cana, when Jesus made water into wine for the wedding feast. And that was when John gave us that description, he said, this is the first of Jesus' signs. There is so much in the gospel and scriptures today, it's unbelievable. Signs, misjudgment, making judgments things you don't see, misinterpretations, living in the darkness, living in the light. And any one of those themes, and there's more, can give us enough information to carry us to the whole season of Lent. The power of Jesus saying, I'm the light of the world, and I came to bring light to a darkened world. That alone is powerful. But there's more to the scriptures. And of course, the main theme today in the gospel is sight. But sometimes it's not about this kind of sight from our eyes. Sometimes it's about a different kind of sight. Sight that comes from faith, insight. When the man, whose name we don't know, by the way, was questioned back and forth the Pharisees. You know him, he's a friend of yours, you're a follower. The guy said, No, I don't know him. He just came up to me and healed me. Well, he must be a magical person or a magician because nobody can do that unless he's from God. But this guy's a sinner because he did this thing to you on a Saturday. Misinterpretation on top of misinterpretation. The Old Testament story today is about a great pick. A great pick. The pick was for the leader of the people of Israel. So the prophet Samuel is sent. Don't forget, scriptures today have so many messages in between the lines. The prophet was sent to the house of Jesse. Jesus sends the man to Siloam. The name of the pool of Siloam means sent. So a lot of action going on. Now, please don't take this as stories in the Old Testament and stories in the Gospels that don't have anything to do with us. Because they're specifically alive, because this is the living word of God, and we are being gifted by these scriptures today. So at the end of our reflection today, we are all sent, as we have been sent from the moment of our baptism to today. We're all sent out. And what was the blind man sent to do? Yeah, he was sent to clean his eyes and get the mud out of his eyes, but he turns out having been sent to proclaim Jesus, to proclaim his faith, and doesn't really know who Jesus is. Imagine being blind from birth, and the first people, first person you see is Jesus. He opens your eyes. Now, you don't know who Jesus is because you're blind. So he was sent after that back to the Pharisees to proclaim his faith in Jesus. I don't know who he is, but he must be good because he healed me. So the theme of sent. So Samuel the great prophet is sent to the family of Jesse. Jesse has eight sons. And one is better than the other. I mean, who's talented, who's big, who's rugged, who's powerful. They all have tasks and they're all very unique. So God says to Samuel, go to that family because the next great person who's going to be the king of Israel will come from that group. So he goes. When he goes, he meets up with the family and he says to Jesse, the father, something's wrong here. My boys are here. You want to meet my boys? There they are, one to seven. No, I don't have it. There's something missing. Now, that's another thing that we should be aware of. The many ways God can speak to us. The many ways we have the ability to see God in our lives. The prophet couldn't do it. Something's missing. I don't have the urge. I don't have the vibe. Something's missing. I see these guys, but God is not inspiring me to call any of them forth. What he was going to do when he gets the right kid, he's going to anoint him with oil. Now, in the scriptures we call it the horn of anointing. They kept the holy oil in a horn, an animal's horn. They put a cap on it, put a bottom on it on the bottom, and they would put oil in there, and then when there was time to use the oil to anoint, which meant set apart a person or a thing, they would pour the oil from the horn. So the horn of plenty, the horn of justice. And the many powerful phrases come from that idea of the horn. So Jesse says, okay, I do have another kid. He's out in the fields. It's little David. I mean, he's like maybe 12 years old, maybe 13. Um, and he's he's unique, he's a little different. Um we we send him out to the field because he plays music, he plays on his harp, and he entertains the animals. So, you know, so we don't pay a lot of attention to him. He's out there. Another phrase from the scriptures don't judge in your eyes. Because what you judge from your eyes is different than how God judges. Wow. That wasn't written today, that was written thousands of years ago, and the truth is still the same. How often we judge one another and make a mistake. And the great prophet taught the father, these kids don't judge. So he's a little on the on, maybe he's on the on the spectrum, but he's still a kid, he's still one of the family, and and he has more talent than you can imagine, maybe hidden inside. Maybe he has to be encouraged to bring out his talent. Call him. So he comes in, and he's a skinny little kid, you know, with his harp, probably, because he used to have a harp to play music to the animals and sing to them. As a matter of fact, the psalm we use today, and all the psalms, are attributed to this guy, to David. He's the one we attribute all the psalms today. He's the one who composed the psalms that are in the scriptures today. And today was a great one. The Lord is my shepherd. So he calls him in, and God speaks. There's another thing we got to remember. God's speaking to us, to all of us. He doesn't necessarily speak to our ears. Sometimes he speaks to our hearts, our memories, our dreams. God has, he's God. He can speak to us any way he wants. And because I didn't hear it in a certain way, it doesn't mean he didn't speak to me. No, he spoke to Samuel in prayer and said, This is the one, David. Anoint him, pour the oil on him, and he's going to be the leader of my people. Out of the ordinary. This kid shouldn't have been the one, because he's not powerful, he's not strong, he's not of great intelligence. He's a little kid in playing his harp in the fields. And the Holy Spirit rushes on him. Beautiful way of hearing that. Holy Spirit rushes on David. The Spirit of God is that same person that rushed on David, and he rushes on us. The Spirit of God came to us at our baptisms, confirmation, whenever we received the Eucharist. The Spirit of God is in us, inspiring us to do God's will, sending us, like Siloam, to do God's will. And at times we just don't appreciate it because it didn't come the way it should come. I don't know what way it should come, but it didn't come the way it should come to me, the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit of God rushes upon David, and he's anointed, and he becomes the great king of the people of Israel. The story doesn't end there, because what he does and his accomplishments continue to bring the people of Israel closer to God. The man from Siloam, whose eyes are open, continues, not in blindness, but in sight, to do God's will. And of course, it's summarized so well in the scriptures with the letter to the Ephesians, which is probably, later on, read it again, probably a song that was sung at a baptism of a Christian. And what is the song talking about? You are children of righteousness. You are children of the light. He's not talking about 2,000 years ago. He's talking about us. We're here to hear God's word. And God says to us, Wake up, O sleeper, arise from the dead. Christ gives you light. Every one of us is sent today with that light to see God in the world, to bring God to the world, through our love, through our actions, through our patience. And it happens everywhere. Don't expect it to happen only in church. It happens on the streets, on Broadway, and Houston. It happens in our clubs, our bars, it could happen in your families, it could happen in church. It happens when I love someone. It has happens when I have compassion on someone. God sending every one of us to do his will. And we have to summarize God's will. It's Jesus. Loving one another as he loves us. You are sent. Make no bones about it. The Holy Spirit is upon us. Get out there and bring his holy will and love to everyone you know.