Daily Mass Readings — Fourth Sunday of Lent (LΓ¦tare Sunday)
"The Lord said to Samuel: Not as man seeth, doth God see; for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart." — 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 16:7
Liturgical Context
Today is LΓ¦tare Sunday — the fourth Sunday of Lent — when the Church, pausing in her penitential discipline, bursts briefly into rose-coloured joy. The name comes from the entrance antiphon: "LΓ¦tare, Jerusalem" — Rejoice, O Jerusalem. The three readings weave a single luminous thread: the blindness of human judgment contrasted with the penetrating light of God; the call to walk as children of light; and the great miracle of a man born blind who, washing in the waters of Siloam, comes to see Christ as Lord. The soul, blind since Adam's fall, is anointed, washed, and illumined — a perfect Lenten image of Baptism restored.
✠ FIRST READING — 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 16:1b, 6–7, 10–13a
¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons.
⁶ And when they were come, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord's anointed before him? ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. Neither doth God see as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
¹⁰ And Jesse caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel; and Samuel said to Jesse: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these. ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse: Are here all thy sons? He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the flock. And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither. ¹² He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was ruddy, and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he. ¹³ Samuel therefore took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Commentary
Saint Augustine marvels at this scene: the prophet himself is deceived by appearances, and God must correct even His own messenger (On the Spirit and the Letter, 36). The outward man — tall, impressive, firstborn — means nothing before Him who reads the secret of every heart. David, the overlooked shepherd, becomes the type of Christ, the Good Shepherd rejected by the world's estimation but chosen from before all ages. Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that divine election operates by grace alone and not by natural merit (Summa Theologiae I–II, q. 112, a. 3). Lent calls us to let God look past our exterior — our habits, our reputation, our self-image — and reach down to the heart He wishes to anoint with His grace.
✠ RESPONSORIAL PSALM — Psalm 22 (23): 1–3, 3–4, 5, 6
R. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
¹ The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing. ² He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment.
R. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
³ He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake. ⁴ For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
R. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
⁵ Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!
R. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
⁶ And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.
R. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
Commentary
Psalm 22 (23) is among the most beloved songs in all of Scripture, yet on LΓ¦tare Sunday it bears a weight of mystery: the Good Shepherd, prefigured in David the psalmist, is the same Christ who this day opens the eyes of a man born blind. Saint Ambrose connects the anointing of the head and the overflowing chalice directly to Baptism and the Eucharist (On the Sacraments, Book IV): to be guided by Christ the Shepherd is to be led toward the very font of life. Pope Pius XII, in Mediator Dei, taught that the Psalms are the prayer of Christ Himself offered in His members. When we sing "I shall want nothing," we profess that Christ alone suffices — a truth the blind man comes to know the moment he washes and sees.
✠ SECOND READING — Ephesians 5:8–14
⁸ For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light. ⁹ For the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth; ¹⁰ Proving what is well pleasing to God; ¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. ¹² For the things that are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of. ¹³ But all things that are reproved, are made manifest by the light; for all that is made manifest is light. ¹⁴ Wherefore he saith: Rise, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten thee.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Commentary
Saint Paul does not merely counsel moral improvement; he announces an ontological transformation. Baptism is not a varnish but a new nature — the baptised person is light in the Lord, not merely illuminated by it. Saint John Chrysostom comments that the sleeping one addressed in the hymn ("Rise, thou that sleepest") is the soul buried in sin, who must wake to behold the dawn of grace (Homily on Ephesians, XIX). The CCC §1216 calls Baptism "the enlightenment," recalling the ancient name photismos — the newly baptised were called photizomenoi, the illumined. As the Church prepares her catechumens for Easter, this reading is their charter: they who were darkness shall become torches.
✠ VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL — John 8:12
I am the light of the world, saith the Lord: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
✠ THE HOLY GOSPEL — John 9:1–41
The Lord be with you. — And with thy spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
¹ And Jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth. ² And his disciples asked him: Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? ³ Jesus answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. ⁴ I must work the works of him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
⁶ When he had said these things, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread the clay on his eyes, ⁷ And said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted Sent. He went therefore, and washed, and he came seeing.
⁸ The neighbours therefore, and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: Is not this he that sat and begged? ⁹ Some said: This is he. But others said: No, but he is like him. But he said: I am he.
¹⁰ They said therefore to him: How were thine eyes opened? ¹¹ He answered: That man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me: Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash. And I went, I washed, and I see.
¹³ They bring him that had been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was the sabbath, when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
¹⁵ Again therefore the Pharisees asked him, how he had received his sight. But he said to them: He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed, and I see. ¹⁶ Some therefore of the Pharisees said: This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath. But others said: How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
¹⁷ They say therefore to the blind man again: What sayest thou of him that hath opened thy eyes? And he said: He is a prophet.
²⁴ They therefore called the man again that had been blind, and said to him: Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. ²⁵ He said therefore to them: Whether he be a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.
³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out: and when he had found him, he said to him: Dost thou believe in the Son of God? ³⁶ He answered, and said: Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? ³⁷ And Jesus said to him: Thou hast both seen him; and it is he that talketh with thee. ³⁸ And he said: I believe, Lord. And falling down, he adored him.
³⁹ And Jesus said: For judgment I am come into this world; that they who see not, may see; and they who see, may become blind.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ.
Commentary
This Gospel is the great baptismal narrative of the Lenten tradition, used since ancient times for the scrutinies of the elect. Saint Augustine preached an entire series on it: the clay mixed with spittle signifies the Word made flesh — the eternal Light stooping to the mud of humanity to restore what Adam lost (Tractates on John, XLIV). The blind man's journey mirrors the soul's progress: at first he knows only "the man called Jesus," then calls Him a prophet, and finally prostrates himself crying "I believe, Lord." This is faith deepened through suffering and rejection. Saint John Paul II noted in Veritatis Splendor that moral blindness — refusing to see the light of truth — is the gravest affliction. The man born blind becomes every catechumen, every soul opening its eyes in the font. "Whereas I was blind, now I see." This is the whole Lenten programme in seven words.
✠ CLOSING PRAYER
O Lord Jesus Christ, Light of the world, Thou didst anoint the eyes of the blind man with clay and send him to the pool of Siloam to wash and see. Look upon us who so often judge by appearances, and restore in us that interior sight which beholdeth Thee as Thou art. Wash away our blindness in the waters of Thy mercy, that we may confess with the man once blind: I believe, Lord. As Lent draws us nearer to Thy Paschal light, grant us courage to profess Thee before all who question, and humility to adore Thee when at last Thou findest us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
✠ Laus Deo semper — Praise be to God always ✠
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