Fourth Sunday of Lent
Jn 9:1 - 41

       To help me remember which way the clock changes, a man told me once that it springs forward an hour in the spring and falls back in the fall. It means that in spring we lose an hour's daylight in the morning and gain it in the evening. It is very noticeable for a week or so after the time changes, noticeable for those who can see the dawn and appreciate the sunset. It is a change that the blind do not appreciate in the same way.

       Daylight for the blind is still darkness. To be born blind is a thought that frightens most people so much that many tend to shirk meeting those so afflicted. Jesus met one such man and confronted the difficulty head on. He cured the man.

      John recounts it in today's gospel as one of the seven great signs that Jesus worked so that people might believe in him as Son of God. True enough, the man was cured and that was a blessing beyond compare. But there was more to it than that. Jesus introduced him not only to daylight but to faith, not only to be able to see the wonders of ordinary everyday world but also to recognize in faith the presence of God around him. This is an ability that we all need, to be able to see God's hand in our lives. The darkness of selfishness blocks our seeing Christ in our brother in need and our recognizing God's will when he calls us to be heroic in living out our baptismal privileges. It is our blindness that only Jesus can remove. Today is a day to ask the Lord to restore our vision of our greatness as followers of his and give us the courage like the man in the gospel to proclaim to one and all that Jesus of Nazareth is the great prophet, the Son of God to whom we give our allegiance.

(Commentary by Tom Clancy. Taken from "Preaching the Word", Columba)