[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, March 30, 2025, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, also called Laetare Sunday. This week's episode is entitled: Open Our Eyes, and in these readings, we are invited to see not just with our human eyes, but with the eyes of faith. To look beyond the outward appearance and see others as God does. To keep nothing hidden but expose everything to the light of Christ.
[00:00:48] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
Those preparing for entry into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil will undergo the Second Scrutiny this week. Scrutinies, if you'll remember, are prayers that free them from sin, protect them from evil, and prepare them to receive the Sacraments of Initiation. The Scrutinies are also an invitation to those who are already Baptized to open our hearts and minds to God, to be strengthened in our Lenten disciplines, and willingly profess our faith in Christ, who is the light of the world.
[00:01:27] I have again incorporated some of the images from this week's Scrutiny to craft our prayer. So let's begin: In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:40] Heavenly Father, we praise you for your goodness and thank you for this Laetare Sunday, a reminder that our Lenten journey is approaching its end. Draw us ever nearer to the unfailing light of your Son and cleanse us from the darkness within us so that we may love you with pure hearts. Like the man born blind whose sight you restored, may we be fearless witnesses of our faith. Your Son is the Master we long for, the holy one to whom we dedicate our earthly lives. Set us firmly in your truth so that we may see you face to face and dwell within your eternal kingdom of light and love. We ask this through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:35] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
Our Gospel this week is from John 9: 1-41.
[00:02:46] “As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, ‘Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is he’; others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He said, ‘I am the man.’ They said to him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Silo’am and wash”; so I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, ‘He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he sees now we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age, ask him.’ So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?’ And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and you would teach us?’ And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe’; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now you say, “We see,” [so] your guilt remains.”
[00:08:09] As I mentioned last week, the church allows any parish to use the Cycle A Readings for the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent if they are preparing people to receive the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. So, even though we are in Cycle C when we would normally hear from Luke, I will continue to use the Cycle A readings - so this week we here again from John.
[00:08:34] In this passage, we hear the story of Jesus opening the eyes of the man born blind. And it's important to know that these Sundays do not present events in John's Gospel in order… these Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays. In fact, we've jumped five chapters from last week to this week (from the Third week to the Fourth week). Now, Jesus did a lot of traveling, teaching, preaching, and healing in those chapters. And when we catch up with him this week, he is in Jerusalem and has been teaching in the temple. If you remember, last week we left off, he and his disciples had stopped in Samaria to encounter the woman at the well on their way to the region of Galilee. Now he is in Jerusalem and has been teaching in the temple. So, let's break open chapter nine of John's Gospel…
[00:09:32] “As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth.”
That detail is significant because Jews would have considered that sort of blindness to be a punishment from God… and that is borne out by the next words that we hear.
[00:09:48] “His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi,’”
Notice how they addressed Jesus - Rabbi (which means teacher), not Master.
“Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
[00:10:03] That is an absolutely reasonable question from their perspective. In the Old Testament, both Exodus 34 and Deuteronomy 5, the Israelites were told that the sins of the father would be visited upon his children to the third and fourth generations. So, that's why they understood an affliction like this to be a result of someone's sin.
[00:10:30] “Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.’”
That response would have quite surprised the disciples! This man's blindness was not a punishment from God as they expected it to be, but it was to serve a larger purpose. Jesus goes on…
“We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
[00:11:07] People expected to encounter God during the day, so that would have made sense to the disciples. But Jesus says there's more to it than that.
[00:11:18] Jesus did the will of the Father - the work assigned to him - in the light of day, certainly, but Jesus uses one of those I AM statements to again declare a divine truth about himself. When Jesus was teaching in the temple in chapter eight, he said: I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. But he repeats himself here, meaning that wherever and whenever Jesus is present, there is light. Now we see that, by extension, in the Church. The Church does its work in the world by the light of Christ.
[00:12:01] And when Jesus says: NIGHT COMES, he was referring to his absence from the world… the three days he was in the grave after his Crucifixion.
[00:12:16] “As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay,”
This is a very visceral image and, truthfully, sort of uncomfortable for our modern sensibilities. But we have to remember saliva was actually considered to have healing properties in biblical times. So, it was the perfect liquid for Jesus to use.
[00:12:46] And his mixing of saliva and clay should truthfully remind us of creation… and think of the Spirit of God which hovered over the face of the waters. And then God formed man from the clay of the earth, so water and clay.
[00:13:13] The physical nature of this healing emphasizes Christ's own physical nature. Jesus is fully divine, certainly, but he is also fully human.
[00:13:27] And when he heals other people, they are human… which means his actions to heal them have to be material and physical.
“[Jesus said] to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am (which means Sent).”
Now, the Pool of Siloam was built as a fresh water reservoir by King Hezekiah in about the 7th century BC. It was a receptacle for water brought from the Gihon spring in the Kidron Valley, through Hezekiah's tunnel, to end up in the pool of Siloam. And as I said, that was for the city to have fresh water at all times.
“So he went and washed and came back seeing.”
[00:14:14] Remember, giving sight to the blind was part of the job description, if you will, of the Messiah from Isaiah 61. Jesus quoted that text at the beginning of his public ministry when he read from the Isaiah scroll at his home synagogue in Nazareth, right? Giving sight to the blind.
[00:14:40] “The neighbors and those who had seen [the man] before as a beggar, said, ‘Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?’”
[00:14:48] And so the questioning begins…
“Some said, ‘It is he’; others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He said, ‘I am the man.’
[00:15:01] Obviously, there is some confusion swirling around this man, and I think that's because any authentic encounter with Christ changes us.
[00:15:13] But despite the confusion, the man openly confirms his own identity.
“They said to him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash”; so I went and washed and received my sight.’ They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’
[00:15:42] The people are asking the man for information he couldn't possibly know or give them. Someone had to have told him who Jesus was in order for him to know, because when he first encountered Jesus, he was blind.
[00:15:59] So he wouldn't even know what Jesus looked like, let alone where he could be found.
“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.”
[00:16:16] The fact that it was a Sabbath day is crucial because most work was forbidden on the Sabbath.
[00:16:27] In the Mishnah (which is a written record of Jewish oral tradition, sometimes also called the Oral Torah), rabbis created 39 different categories in which they listed many types of work that were forbidden on the Sabbath, and all of them were related to the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Now those tasks were expanded over and over again until anything that even vaguely resembled something on the list ended up being forbidden. And that is the problem. Jesus mixed clay and saliva, and that fell into the same category as making bricks.
[00:17:16] I know, I know… it seems like a stretch, but that's how it would have been interpreted. So that made it work that was forbidden to undertake on the Sabbath.
[00:17:28] “The Pharisees again asked [the man] how he had received his sight. [H]e said to them, ‘He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’”
The man's story is getting shorter the more he repeats it, as if he's growing tired of repeating the same thing over and over. We can understand that, right? When you have to say the same thing, you just get tired of saying those same words. And often we'll say, let's wait till everybody gets here - and I'm just going to say this once, right? So that's, kind of, probably what the man is going through at the moment.
“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.’”
Meaning that Jesus couldn't possibly be a man of God because he did not adhere to the strict letter of the law forbidding work on the Sabbath.
“But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ There was a division among them.”
There was debate among the Pharisees - was this healing a sign FROM God or an action forbidden by Jewish law and therefore a sin AGAINST God?
[00:18:39] And remember, the Pharisees were a lay movement. So, we're not talking about the chief priests here. These are well organized and well respected, but certainly a lay movement, the Pharisees.
[00:18:53] “So they again said to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’”
Just like the story of the Samaritan woman at the well last week, the man born blind is growing in his faith. He had previously identified Jesus just as a man, but now he declares him to be a prophet.
“The Jews”
And remember, they're all Jews! Every single one of them: Jesus, the man born blind, the Pharisees, the disciples, everybody, they're all Jews! Whenever John says Jews, he typically is referring to the Jewish authorities, okay? Because they're all Jews.
“The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’”
[00:19:57] Let's keep track here… the parents were asked three questions: (1) is this your son? (2) was he really born blind? And (3) how does he now see?
“His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age, ask him.’”
[00:20:41] Notice the parents were asked three questions, but they only answered two. (1) he is our son… and (2) he was born blind. Unfortunately, the man's parents then put their own son in danger out of fear. The text tells us they were afraid of being put out of the synagogue. Now, people weren't actually being expelled from the synagogue until after the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. But, but John's Gospel was written 20 years after that, so those expulsions were happening by then.
[00:21:24] And while it wasn't actually taking place at the time - the threat of it, and the fear of the repercussions were very, very real. We have to keep in mind that being put out of the synagogue would have been the same as being expelled from the community. Being part of the synagogue was an essential part of Jewish identity. So, being denied access to it was to have, in essence, their identity destroyed.
[00:21:55] “So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, ‘Give God the praise.’”
[00:22:01] That was a way of swearing an oath at the time.
“we know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.’”
The Pharisees have apparently resolved their sin versus sign debate and have solidly concluded that Jesus’ actions were sinful. But the man born blind is unwilling to agree with that. His answer indicates that he can't see into Jesus' heart, he doesn't know what Jesus' motivations are, so he has no objective way of judging Jesus' actions. But, they ask again…
“‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?’”
[00:23:02] I love that section, but let's break it down a little. There are a whole host of reasons for asking someone to repeat their answer, for repeating a question, right? Maybe you didn't hear the answer or you didn't understand it; maybe you didn't like what you heard, so you ask again, hoping for a different answer; or maybe you heard the answer but you weren't really paying attention. Now the man born blind has, sort of, decided that the Pharisees just really weren't listening to him. So, with his questions, he contrasts their religious authority with the idea of discipleship. In his mind, the Pharisees who are supposed to be the authority are clearly unable to understand what they've already heard. So, the man asks them if they want to be Jesus' disciples. And through that - it's his way of suggesting that - maybe they should learn a little bit more and teach others less!
“And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
The Pharisees are, of course, insulted by the man's reply. So, they do everything they can to distance themselves from any hint of being followers of Jesus. They declare their allegiance to Moses, and that's that.
[00:24:38] Interestingly enough, it was Moses himself who said in Deuteronomy 18 that God would raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people and that he should be heeded. The Pharisees, as disciples of Moses, should have known that. But they are clearly unwilling to listen to anything at this point.
“The man answered, ‘Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.’”
The man born blind is stumped - he simply can't understand the Pharisees’ point of view. He knows that Jesus did a good work by giving him his sight - exactly the type of work promised by Isaiah - yet the Pharisees still reject him.
[00:25:41] And it was commonly thought, in biblical times, that God did not listen to sinners which confounds the man even further. He still considers Jesus a prophet and thinks that Jesus asked God to heal him. He has yet, of course, to learn the full truth, but he goes on…
“Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
That is absolutely true. There was no record, in all of sacred Scripture at the time, of sight being given to anyone blind from birth. There are plenty of instances when sight was restored to those who were stricken with blindness, but not a single instance of sight being given to one who was born blind. It's almost as if the man is convincing himself by his own words, the more he talks, that there is more to Jesus than he initially thought.
[00:26:55] “[The Pharisees] answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out.”
The Pharisees have not only retreated to their original opinion that being blind from birth is a punishment from God, they've actually doubled down on that… and that's it, they're done, they have no other opinion on the matter! Therefore, the man born blind is a sinner in their estimation, who has nothing to say that they want to hear.
[00:27:26] In the end, it was their own fear that caused them to cast the man out.
[00:27:35] “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of man?’”
[00:27:43] Remember, the phrase Son of man comes from both Ezekiel and Daniel, and it essentially means God's presence in the flesh.
“He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’”
The man answers Jesus' question with a question of his own. That's typical of what Jesus does, right? When he wants his listeners to look beyond a simple answer and find a deeper truth.
[00:28:12] With his question, the man is asking Jesus to help him find that deeper truth. And remember, as the man spoke to the Pharisees, he was already - or he appeared to be already - beginning to convince himself that there was more to Jesus than he initially thought. Now he's offered the path to something more, and he wants to learn it.
“Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.’”
[00:28:52] When the man first encountered Jesus, remember, he was still blind. So, when Jesus says: YOU HAVE SEEN HIM, he means that the man saw not with physical sight, but with the eyes of faith. And then Jesus confirms his identity for the man… it's me.
[00:29:16] “He said, ‘Lord, I believe’; and he worshiped him.”
[00:29:24] The man has learned the most profound truth.
[00:29:31] He received the fullness of sight, both physical and spiritual, and responded by worshiping Jesus. Remember, worship is a response proper to God alone. So, by worshiping Jesus, the man is acknowledging with his entire being that Jesus is the Lord.
[00:29:56] “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.’”
[00:30:07] Those WHO DO NOT SEE are those who are open, who receive Jesus and are able to see the truth of his divinity with the eyes of faith, as the man born blind did.
[00:30:27] THOSE WHO SEE are those who reject Jesus… and when he says they MAY BECOME BLIND, it means making their eyes of faith blind, unable to recognize the truth.
“Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’”
[00:30:50] So it seems that while the majority of Pharisees have made their decision, a few of them may still have questions and are at least open enough to ask if they are blind.
[00:31:03] But Jesus response is simple and direct.
[00:31:08] “Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say “We see,” [so] your guilt remains.’”
The NAB uses the word sin instead of guilt - and I think that helps clarify that sentence a bit. The essence of sin, after all, is separation from God. So, if any of the Pharisees would recognize their need for Christ, they would be considered blind and they would be without sin… they would not be separated from Christ. But since they indicate by their very question that they can see, then they remain in sin and remain separated from Christ. They remain in spiritual darkness, unable to see the light of Christ.
[00:32:05] Just like the man born blind, we must learn to see with the eyes of faith and with the eyes of our heart.
[00:32:16] We must set our aside the prejudices that keep us from seeing that every human being is a precious gift from God… every human being! We must rid ourselves of the hatred that blinds us to the goodness of other people - especially those with whom we disagree. We have to see beyond the surface, beyond outward appearances, to really see others as Jesus sees them… and to see Jesus within them. Our Lenten disciplines can help with that. Laetare Sunday is here… Easter joy is not far off… there is still time to discipline ourselves and open wide our eyes of faith!
[00:33:15] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from the First book of Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13.
[00:33:26] “[The Lord said to Samuel:] Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ When [Jesse and his sons] came [to the sacrifice], [Samuel] looked on Eli’ab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.’ But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look upon his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’ And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here.’ And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.”
[00:34:53] This is the beginning of the story of King David, which is recorded in the First Book of Samuel. If you remember, Samuel was one of the Judges, men and women that were sometimes prophets and often warrior heroes, who were responsible for leading the Chosen People for hundreds of years from the time they took possession of the Promised Land until the time a king was anointed to rule Israel. Samuel was, in fact, the last of the Judges because it was he who anointed Saul as the first king of Israel around 1020 BC. Saul could have been a good king but he was a complicated individual and a deeply flawed man.
[00:35:45] His arrogance led him to disobey God on a number of occasions until God eventually rejected Saul in favor of David. The story we hear today is that of Samuel anointing David, who will then become king after Saul. What we don't hear in this passage is that Samuel was reluctant to undertake this task at all, fearing that Saul would kill him if he learned of it. God tells Samuel to arrange a sacrifice and invite Jesse and his sons to the banquet. Samuel can then accomplish the mission God set for him without arousing Saul's suspicions. So. let's examine this story…
[00:36:36] “[The LORD said to Samuel:] Fill your horn with oil, and go;”
The NAB translates that as: BE ON YOUR WAY rather than GO. The journey that Samuel undertakes is to be a new beginning for Israel, so BE ON YOUR WAY, I think, more accurately conveys that. Now: FILL YOUR HORN WITH OIL… kings were anointed with oil, so that's why Samuel has to take his horn of oil with him.
[00:37:10] “I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
That is significant for a couple of reasons. First, David - the son of Jesse - will become the greatest king ever to rule Israel and second, specifically for Christians, Jesus is descended from the line of King David.
“When [Jesse and his sons] came [to the sacrifice],”
That pretense that God told Samuel to arrange so that Jesse and his sons would be in attendance.
[00:37:51] “[Samuel] looked on Eli’ab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD 's anointed is before him.’ But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’”
[00:38:14] When we read the description of Saul in 1 Samuel, we are told that he is tall, handsome, and charismatic; by outward appearance, he was everything that the Israelites could want in a leader - but God is telling Samuel that the next king will NOT be like Saul. The outward appearance can be deceiving so the Lord looks instead at the heart of a man, because the heart, remember in biblical times, was considered to be the seat of intellect and will, the center of knowledge and understanding, in essence, the totality of… of one's inner self.
“And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.”
All seven of the sons who were at home.
“And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’ [Then] Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And [Jesse] said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.’”
That tells us that the youngest was considered to be the least important among all of Jesse's sons. But notice what David is doing - keeping the sheep.
[00:39:39] Good kings will come to be depicted as shepherds largely because of David, since shepherds were devoted to their flocks and willing to sacrifice themselves to ensure the safety of their sheep.
“And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here.’”
In other words, the banquet will not begin until everyone is present.
[00:40:09] “And [Jesse] sent, and brought him in. Now [David] was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.”
I always find it fascinating that David is described as handsome with rosy cheeks (that's what ruddy means), and beautiful eyes, since his outward appearance was supposed to be both irrelevant and different from Saul!
[00:40:39] “And the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers;”
This is Samuel's final act as a prophet. After this, he retires to Ramah, which is where he was born and where he lived until his mother took him to the temple to dedicate him to the Lord's service. And we are told…
“The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.”
That means that the Spirit of God, God's favor, left Saul at that moment and rushed upon David instead.
[00:41:27] This passage reminds us that we have to be very careful how we judge people. It is so easy for us to be distracted by beauty, misled by society's norms and expectations, and blinded by our own preconceptions, so that we judge the people and things of this world wrongly and we do not see what's really important. We need to look beyond outward appearance and see others as God sees them, as God saw David in spite of his outward appearance… as individuals, precious and valued, with the dignity inherent to all of God's children.
[00:42:17] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 23, and the refrain is:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
And here are the verses:
[00:42:28] “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
[00:43:17] This is one of the many psalms that are attributed directly to King David, and it is a Hymn of Praise to God. It makes use of bucolic, rustic imagery and depicts God as a loving and protective shepherd.
[00:43:37] So it's quite clear why this particular Psalm was chosen to go with our First Reading. It is also worth mentioning that this is undoubtedly one of the most comforting Psalms in the entire book of Psalms, and because of that, it is often chosen by grieving families as part of the funeral liturgy they plan for their deceased loved ones. I spent a number of years at my home parish helping people plan funerals, and this is a very common choice.
[00:44:16] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians 5: 8-14.
[00:44:25] “[Brothers and Sisters:] [O]nce you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed to the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it is said, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.’”
[00:45:14] You may or may not recall that the authorship of Ephesians is somewhat in dispute among theologians. It is classified usually as one of Paul's Captivity Letters written between 61 and 63 AD when he was a prisoner in Rome before his execution. There are those, however, who think that it was written by Paul's disciples after his death, which would actually date the letter then somewhere between 80 and 90 AD.
[00:45:45] Either way, the letter is addressed to the people of Ephesus, a Turkish port city located on the Aegean Sea. The overall purpose of the letter was to encourage unity within a Christian community that was experiencing not only disagreements among its own members, but also dealing with the distractions presented by a worldly, well-educated, and metropolitan society. So, let's explore what Paul is saying…
[00:46:24] “[Brothers and Sisters:] [O]nce you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord;”
By darkness Paul means the lack of faith that characterized their lives before he preached the good news of Christ to them. But once they heard and accepted that good news, they entered into the light of faith in God.
[00:46:50] So Paul says…
“walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),”
[00:47:02] Light is often used as a metaphor for God and for his kingdom. Remember, Jesus said: I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD so wherever true faith in God is present, there is also light in the world.
[00:47:17] And authentic faith is good, right, and true, but the key is authenticity, right? Authenticity and fidelity to the fullness of Scripture, the totality of God's message - not just the parts that are easy, not just the parts that we like.
“and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”
Meaning we should never ever stop learning! It takes a lifetime to comprehend the fullness of our faith… and there are no shortcuts!
[00:48:01] “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,”
[00:48:06] Darkness resists God's invitation and flees from God's light. Paul uses darkness here to encompass everything that is evil in the world.
[00:48:20] Paul says, instead of participating in works of darkness…
“expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.”
[00:48:42] What Paul means when he says: EXPOSED BY THE LIGHT is the process of conversion, transformation. Light exposes the darkness and can therefore transform it. That's what Paul means when he says: ANYTHING THAT BECOMES VISIBLE IS LIGHT.
[00:49:10] So, even our sinfulness, when it's exposed to the gentle light that is Christ, the gentle light of God's love, then that sin is transformed. It becomes a learning process… we learn not to do it again.
[00:49:35] This passage concludes with…
“Therefore it is said, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.’”
[00:49:48] That is probably a fragment of an early Baptismal hymn, and it's based on Isaiah 60, which says: ARISE, SHINE; FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME. Paul tells us in the Letter to the Romans, that when we enter the waters of Baptism we enter into Christ's death and emerge from the water as new creations. So, Paul is referring to Baptism when he says: ARISE FROM THE DEAD AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE YOU LIGHT. That's why it would have been part of an early Baptismal hymn. Remember, light allows us to see things more clearly… it transforms the darkness which prevents clear sight. And the light of Christ enables us to see with the eyes of faith, to see the people and things around us rightly, to appreciate them as part of the beauty created by God, and to accord them all the love and respect they deserve. This week's readings invite us to see things differently, to look beyond outward appearances, and to expose everything to the light of Christ.
[00:51:28] This Sunday is Laetare Sunday - a perfect reminder, exactly when we need it - that our Lenten disciplines can still prepare us for the Easter joys which are fast approaching. Let's use the time we have left in Lent to strengthen our eyes of faith, to see and appreciate the people and things around us as God sees them, and to expose any darkness still lurking within ourselves to the warm, loving, and transformative light of Christ.
[00:52:15] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
[00:52:38] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
