"Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts."
This verse taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is the Introit to this Mass. The Introit is the opening verse that is often recitied as the priest enters into the Church. It is from this verse that we get the name given to this fourth Sunday of Lent. We therefore call today "Laetare" Sunday which comes from the word "rejoice."
Indeed we must rejoice for time is passing by and before we know it we will rejoice on Easter morning with Christ who has triumphed over the grave. This serves a reminder to us that we must orient our life towards Christ for here we will be given a glimpse into eternal life.
In our Gospel we were given a glimpse into the man who was born blind. He represents to us the very journey that we must undergo. Through his encounter with Christ and faith that was placed within Him his eyes were opened.
Through our encounter with the life giving waters of baptism our eyes which were left blind to sin have been opened. It is for this reason that we celebrate the second scrutiny. We rejoice with this catechumen who now prepares to be baptized and thus to have her eyes opened to Christ and to His saving mercy.
May she and all of us realize that baptism is a big deal. We do rise forth from the waters of baptism unchanged, but rather we rise forth from these life giving waters created anew. Therefore, we must always keep on guard that we follow Christ and live out what was begun in us at the moment of our baptism.
Seeing that we have been baptized our eyes have been opened to Christ. He therefore continues to call out to each of us by name to come and to follow after Him. We order our life after a lot, but Christ calls out to us to order our life after Him. Lent serves as a period of preparation in order that we may come to achieve this reality.
It is for that reason that we flock to the confessional to have our sins forgiven in order that eyes may be opened to Christ. It is for this reason that we undergo practices such as fasting, almsgiving, and prayer in order that our eyes may be opened to Christ. Do we here truly desire to have our eyes opened to Christ? Or are we content with the ways of this world even if it comes at His expense?
Let us rejoice this day for we will soon celebrate anew the reality of the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord. Easter will come soon and thus we continue to journey towards this point in time. May we therefore not impede this journey of faith, but rather may we allow our eyes to be opened in order that we may see Christ more clearly by the way in which we order our life.
