Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent, March 15th, 2026

Considering the last blistering words coming straight from Jesus’ mouth today, we might want to take a second look at our spiritual condition, perhaps decades, ages, after we received the light of Christ at our Baptism.  

I am referring of course to these words: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see’, so your sin remains.” 

Since Christ, as we so readily claim, is present at our assembly, these searing words are directed also at us. 

We have been told repeatedly that Baptism is not a date lost in time but a life-long journey and growth from darkness to light, from sin to loving service, from vain toil to grace, from death to life. 

Focusing on this aspect of having a new outlook, a new vision of the world in the light of Christ, St. Paul would say: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8) 

Now, would anybody be offended if I were to submit to you that we might fit the description of a true Pharisee? We claim to see when we might have adjusted rather well to the darkness of the world. 

Oftentimes, our perception of reality is not filtered through the Beatitudes, the standards of the Gospel, but the standards of convenience, self-interest, comfort, propriety, social acceptance. 

Would it be surprising, then, if we might go through the motions of living out our Baptismal vocation in darkness?  

Here are some examples of what I mean. Why is it that our conduct before a powerful, wealthy person is different from our conduct before a beggar or a loser?  

Why do we go through long stretches of time without recognizing the features of Christ in the hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, exploited, sick, lonely, lost, helpless people close to us? 

Every time, in our darkness, we criticize, complain, judge, condemn, or, even worse, dismiss, ignore a human being, no matter how he or she looks to us, we run the risk of remaining in our sin to borrow Jesus’ words! 

Could it be, then, that the sin of not seeing the way we should as baptized Christians, is a sin of lack of compassion? After all, the Pharisees in today’s gospel had no compassion for the blind man, for his parents and, perhaps, for no one else either. (John 4:5-42) 

There are two ways of becoming compassionate people: we must let Christ enlighten us to see him, to recognize him, in any disguise of his cvhoosing, or to experience firsthand what our unfortunate, pain-stricken brothers and sisters live through. 

Many years ago, a blind Italian entrepreneur invited 40 volunteers to a sumptuous dinner in his villa under one condition: dinner was to be served in total darkness by five blind waiters, one for each of the five tables.   

Paolo Tonin, the journalist that wrote a report on this unusual dinner, pointed out a few enlightening facts. 

Almost immediately everyone began to hold on to their blind waiter, to trust him completely as being the only one who could maneuver through the maze of tables and chairs, serve, and pour the choice wines with ease and confidence. 

Secondly, communication with the other guests, quickly, became rather frank and uninhibited. Mr. Tonin attributed it to the fact that people felt free to say what was on their mind because they could not see the reaction of their words on other people’s faces. 

Thirdly, they failed to recognize most of the dishes and some could not even tell if the wines were red or white. 

That was indeed a nice way of becoming compassionate towards the blind, wouldn’t you say? It is also helping us look at today’s miracle account from a different angle. 

Jesus is the Light of God that, out of compassion for us, becomes our blind waiter to lead us through the darkness of life’s maze and to help us in becoming compassionate towards the plight of others, all the while serving us his heavenly dinner, the Eucharist, even though, in our darkness, we cannot discern its awesome goodness and heavenly taste.  

The lesson, then, becomes rather obvious: let us admit our darkness; let us be candid about our true feelings, let us trust our Lord blindly and let us feed eagerly, with enormous expectation, on the Flesh and Blood of our God.  

Our eyes would soon be open, and we would be on our way to being as compassionate as the Lord is.