4th Sunday of Lent 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
March 18, 2023


My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

As I was saying, today is “Laetare Sunday,” the Sunday of joy. On this fourth Sunday in our Lenten journey, the Church calls us to contemplate the joy that will be ours on Easter Sunday. 

On Easter, the tears of mourning and grief are wiped away, life and light triumph over darkness and death.

There is also a baptismal dimension to our joy. Because we are joined to Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism. And this journey of Lent is a journey of renewal, as we deepen our awareness of the great gift that we have received in our baptism.

St. Paul says today in that second reading: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

This is the beautiful promise of baptism — we arise to new life in Christ, who is the light of the world. And that is the reason for our joy today, because as our readings tell us, in baptism our eyes have been opened so that we can see the living God, Jesus Christ, who gives us the eyes of faith!

And this is the meaning of Gospel today, the great story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man. Of course, we probably know, this is a story that is meant to teach us about out baptism.

The first thing that we can reflect on is that blind man in the Gospel today is every man and every woman. As we heard, the man is described as “blind from birth” and as someone who is “born totally in sin.”

So my brothers and sisters, this is the human condition, the story of the whole human race. This is how we are all born. This is the fruit of the original sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve.

In that sense, we are all “blind from birth.” Because original sin leaves our eyes darkened, making it impossible for us to see the glory of God in the world; making it impossible for us to see his beautiful plan of love for our lives, for each one of us.

So, like that blind man, every person needs to meet Jesus, needs to have his or her eyes opened. This is the work that Jesus was sent to do, and this is the work that he sends us out to do.

And our Gospel today reminds us that this beautiful duty is given to us by our baptism.

I think it’s very beautiful to see how, in the blind man’s healing today, we can recognize all the signs of baptism. Jesus “anointed” the man’s eyes and then he had him “wash” in the waters of the pool called Siloam. Then the man also makes a profession of faith. He told Jesus, “‘I do believe, Lord,’ and he worshiped him.”

As we probably know, the first Christians called baptism the “bath of enlightenment,” because when we are baptized, our eyes are opened like that blind man, and we are enlightened by the Gospel.²

And that’s what St. Paul is telling us in that second reading of today’s Mass . As we said, he is also talking about our baptism, and he says so beautifully: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

This is who we are, my dear brothers and sisters. We are light in the Lord! We are children of light. What an amazing and beautiful gift we have!

And yes, we are called to share the light we have received with the whole world. Because our baptism, as we know, has given us a mission.

The beautiful mission of sharing the presence, the life, the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ to the people of our time.

But it is interesting that the Gospel today provides this little detail about the fact that the pool that the blind man washes in is called, as I said, “Siloam.” And the Gospel tells us that this word means “Sent.”

So my brothers and sisters, when we are washed in the living waters of baptism, Jesus sends us out, just as his Father sent him out.³ He sends us out as God sent out Samuel in the first reading of today’s Mass to proclaim God’s kingdom and his anointing.

Then, there are a lot of beautiful things in this passage of the Gospel, probably you also notice — when you read this passage of the Gospel — that as soon as the blind man is washed in that pool and is given his sight — he sets out to tell everyone about Jesus. He tells his neighbors, he tells his parents, he tells the religious authorities. Everyone.

Again, that’s our beautiful mission because Jesus is still in the world! He is with us until the end of the age, he is still working through his Church, still doing the works of his Father who sent him into this world.⁴

So for us, especially today, it’s good for us to reflect on how, again, we are sent out by our baptism to continue Jesus’ work in the world. He is sending us out to open our neighbors’ eyes to a new encounter with the living God who loves them and longs to lead them out of darkness and into his light.

This is the mission of the Church. This is our work. So, we want to have that same zeal as that man who once was blind but now can see. So we need to have that same excitement, that joy that comes from knowing Jesus Christ and his love.

Let’s ask for that grace today. Sometimes it’s easy for us to get accustomed to knowing that what we do is some works of charity or some prayer, but we can do more. And we have to be excited about that life of faith, especially, as I said, to the presence of Jesus in our lives.

So today, let us say with the blind man, “I do believe, Lord!” as we hear in the Gospel today. Let us thank God for the gift of our baptism, for opening our eyes to see the light of his glory, the light of our salvation.

And let us continue to entrust our lives and the remainder of our Lenten journey to Mary Our Blessed Mother. May she help us to walk with her and her Son and to work with Jesus bringing his light to the world!