Today we are given every reason to "rejoice" because we are quickly drawing towards Easter where we will rejoice as we celebrate with joy the celebration of Christ's Resurrection. With this celebration of Laetare Sunday we find that we are half way through the Lenten season and thus are only given about twenty more days to prepare ourselves to be able to cast away the sin that blinds us in order that we may truly rejoice with new sight as we celebrate Easter. Anytime when darkness is overcome and thus we allow light to shine brightly in our lives we are given this great reason to rejoice. We are able to rejoice because what was once blurry can now be fully seen as we grow closer and closer into our relationship with God. When we turn towards God and His grace we will be able to see more and more clearly each day. On the other hand, when we allow ourselves to become entrapped by sin we allow ourselves to see less and less until we are left completely blind.
Of course we may not be able to recognize that blindness that we endure. We might believe that despite our sin that we are truly able to behold the infinite glory of God in all of its splendor. This of course is not true because our sin keeps us from truly being able to behold God and to come into communion with Him. Whenever I get a new pair of glasses I am most defiantly able to see the truth to this. With my old pair I believe that I can see perfectly and that there is nothing that impedes upon my ability to see. Once I finally, especially after a good amount of time, receive a new pair of glasses I am able to realize how much I was truly unable to see. It is like looking upon the world in high definition instead of through the blurriness of standard definition. You can never truly realize the difference until you begin to see again in the clearness that should have existed all along. This reality is true for each of us because we have been washed in the waters of baptism and thus we know what seeing clearly truly means.
In our Gospel we encounter the blind man whose sight was restored through the miracle that was enacted by Christ. Christ took the ordinary element of clay which was made with the dirt of the earth and His own spit in order to work this miracle which would restore sight to this man. In each of the Sacraments of the Church our sight is restored through ordinary elements which through the words that are said over them take on profound significance. Through each of these ordinary elements something profound takes place within us as something profound took place in the life of the blind man through the ordinary element of clay. In baptism water was poured over your head which did something very profound inside of you. From this action your eyes that had been closed through original sin were finally opened. Unfortunately it is hard to keep our eyes open to God and the reality of sin is always tugging upon us. This is why we need the other sacraments of the Church because they continuously prepare us to battle against sin, to be united with God, and to be able to see clearly as we did on the day of our baptism.
May we rejoice this day as we are able to partake in the sacraments of the Church. If we have entered into Holy Matrimony may we realize that this response of love truly connects a man and woman together until the end of life. Through this sacrament two join together and their love is so outpouring that new life comes from this sacrament. In any vocation times can indeed become difficult, but instead of trusting in the darkness that comes through pleasure for the sake of pleasure may we instead trust in the light of God that will strengthen us in all of life's difficulties. We must also trust in the sacrament of confession because our eyes are always closed through sin, but the hope of returning to the site that was found on the day of our baptism is always present through the confession of our sins. We must also trust in the Body and Blood of Christ which will give us the strength to see as we continue our journey of faith.
Through the remainder of this Lenten season may we rejoice as we draw close to Easter Sunday. May we rejoice in the gift of the sacraments which continuously reconnect ourselves to Christ. May we not allow the darkness of sin to overcome our sight, but instead may we trust in the light of sight that Christ ushers into our life. As we continue this Lenten journey may we gather our sins together and leave them behind as we come to rejoice at the reality of Christ's Resurrection.
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