Daily Reflection: Tuesday, March 24
Dear Friends in Christ,
Here is my homily from the online Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 22
I am sure that the very last question on your mind today is: “Why is Fr. Mike wearing a rose-colored vestment?”
Even though you haven’t asked, I will tell you!
Today is traditionally known as Laetare Sunday…the Fourth Sunday of Lent.
The Rose color is meant to be a sign of hope in a penitential season.
It signals that we are half way through our six weeks of Lent…there is light at the end of tunnel, and our faith gives us hope.
But today our reality is different. This is a Lent not of our choosing…and we are not half way through it. It could be many weeks yet…it could be months.
But nonetheless, the Rose color reminds us that we are people of hope, and we know that no matter how long our Lent will be, we will pull through, we will see light at the tunnel…we are a people of Hope.
Yes, the Lord is in our midst…and our God walks with us and shares the pain of these difficult days…
So we embrace our new reality with faith and with trust in God…and if we do this our faith will be deepened and our spirituality will be stronger.
Moments of crisis can become moments of new opportunities.
Like the man born blind in today’s Gospel, this crisis can be a time of healing…
We can begin, with a fresh set of eyes, to see the world anew, to see it the way that God sees it and the way God wants us to see it…we are a Global Village, we are all interconnected, we are all brothers and sisters of the one God who loves us all totally and completely…what we do and what we don’t do affects others, all the time, either in small ways or ways that can have enormous results either for the good or for the bad.
So we seek God’s healing that this crisis becomes new and grace-filled opportunities for us and our world.
I have heard some people say, and even some religious leaders say, that this crisis is a punishment from God because of humanity’s sin.
It is important to remember that our God does not punish…our God saves…we often punish ourselves because of what we do or fail to do…but it is not God who punishes…
Jesus answered that question over 2,000 years ago and we hear the question and the answer in today’s Gospel:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered: “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”
“Rabbi, who sinned that this virus is upon us?”
Jesus answers: “No one sinned to cause this…this is your opportunity that the works of God might be made visible through you.”
Let us turn this crisis into opportunity! We embrace our reality. Our Faith will be deepened, and our spirituality will become stronger.
In these days, let the works of God be made visible through us! May we become better people and our world a better place!
--Fr. Mike
