Beloved in Christ,
Happy Laetare Sunday!
We have come into the second half of our annual Lenten season.
The church offers us a little respite from our penitential discipline,
and filled with deeper devotion and eager faith, we hasten toward the solemn celebration of the Easter joy. In the spirit of anticipation, we can have some flowers to decorate the altar, play more instruments to enhance our liturgical worship, and have the celebrant wear rose-colored vestments. Using the words of Prophet
Isaiah, the church bids us rejoice: “Be joyful, all who were in mourning.”
In our joyfulness, however, we do not slacken in our Lenten journey of self-discovery and conversion.
God is still at work, leading us closer to himself. This Sunday, the Gospel is about the man born blind.
The healing of this man's blindness is not only a case of physical healing; it also points to fulfillment in
the prophets that the Son of man will come to heal the blind. The blindness has a mystical or spiritual dimension. Jesus is the one Prophet Isaiah was referring to in his work (see Is. 29:9, 18; 35:5; 42:7, 16, 18-19; 59:10, etc.). Jesus came to heal our spiritual blindness. Like the scribes and Pharisees who opposed Jesus, we too may be suffering from spiritual blindness of pride and other sinful dispositions from a hardened heart. Jesus wants to heal us of any form of spiritual blindness so that we begin to see, recognize, and bear witness to him as the blind man in this Sunday’s gospel. Jesus wants to lead us from darkness into the radiance of the faith through the sacraments. We were once in darkness, but now we must be light for the world.
We celebrate Sophia Hoglund McGuirk’s second scrutiny today. Our Elect this year is being led from spiritual blindness to sight as she prepares to receive the sacrament of initiation during the Easter season. We must continue to pray for her as we pray for one another to experience healing from our spiritual blindness, so that, coming to a deep faith in Jesus, we may courageously testify to him publicly by our deeds and words.
Monday, March 16, a day before St. Patrick’s feast, is our parish Penance service. Please consider it an opportunity to receive healing for spiritual blindness. Nothing blinds the soul more than unconfessed sins. There will be six priests available to hear confessions. Let us make it our Lenten duty to go to confession, if needed, before Easter. Tomorrow night, from 7 pm, is our opportunity to do so. On Thursday, we shall gather once again here to celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; we shall sing the Gloria that we have fasted from since Ash Wednesday! Come, join the celebration.
In Christ our Light,
Fr. Alayode, OP
Happy Laetare Sunday!
We have come into the second half of our annual Lenten season.
The church offers us a little respite from our penitential discipline,
and filled with deeper devotion and eager faith, we hasten toward the solemn celebration of the Easter joy. In the spirit of anticipation, we can have some flowers to decorate the altar, play more instruments to enhance our liturgical worship, and have the celebrant wear rose-colored vestments. Using the words of Prophet
Isaiah, the church bids us rejoice: “Be joyful, all who were in mourning.”
In our joyfulness, however, we do not slacken in our Lenten journey of self-discovery and conversion.
God is still at work, leading us closer to himself. This Sunday, the Gospel is about the man born blind.
The healing of this man's blindness is not only a case of physical healing; it also points to fulfillment in
the prophets that the Son of man will come to heal the blind. The blindness has a mystical or spiritual dimension. Jesus is the one Prophet Isaiah was referring to in his work (see Is. 29:9, 18; 35:5; 42:7, 16, 18-19; 59:10, etc.). Jesus came to heal our spiritual blindness. Like the scribes and Pharisees who opposed Jesus, we too may be suffering from spiritual blindness of pride and other sinful dispositions from a hardened heart. Jesus wants to heal us of any form of spiritual blindness so that we begin to see, recognize, and bear witness to him as the blind man in this Sunday’s gospel. Jesus wants to lead us from darkness into the radiance of the faith through the sacraments. We were once in darkness, but now we must be light for the world.
We celebrate Sophia Hoglund McGuirk’s second scrutiny today. Our Elect this year is being led from spiritual blindness to sight as she prepares to receive the sacrament of initiation during the Easter season. We must continue to pray for her as we pray for one another to experience healing from our spiritual blindness, so that, coming to a deep faith in Jesus, we may courageously testify to him publicly by our deeds and words.
Monday, March 16, a day before St. Patrick’s feast, is our parish Penance service. Please consider it an opportunity to receive healing for spiritual blindness. Nothing blinds the soul more than unconfessed sins. There will be six priests available to hear confessions. Let us make it our Lenten duty to go to confession, if needed, before Easter. Tomorrow night, from 7 pm, is our opportunity to do so. On Thursday, we shall gather once again here to celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; we shall sing the Gloria that we have fasted from since Ash Wednesday! Come, join the celebration.
In Christ our Light,
Fr. Alayode, OP
RSS Feed