4th Sunday of Lent A
St. Patrick Parade Day // Baltimore Basilica
March 15, 2026
I. Man Born Blind
A. Recently, my ophthalmologist gave me a brochure on cataract surgery.
“No rush,” he said, “just let me know when you are ready.”
Of course, I spoke with friends who had the surgery.
“Don’t wait!” they said, “You will see clearly and everything will look brighter.”
How blessed we are to have such remedies available to us.
B. What must life have been like for the man born blind in today’s Gospel?
In his day, there was no remedy for blindness.
Nor did the society show much mercy to those who were blind.
Blindness was seen as a curse attributed to sin.
Those afflicted with blindness could not earn a living.
Often, they were reduced to begging for bare sustenance.
How fortunate, then, was the blind beggar to encounter Jesus.
He didn’t know who Jesus and didn’t expect to be healed,
but his encounter with Jesus changed his life completely.
It was a journey from darkness, to physical sight, to the pure light of faith.
II. A Miraculous Healing
A. What follows is a miraculous healing.
Notice, though, that Jesus doesn’t simply say to the man, “Be healed!”
He makes a paste of dirt and spittle and smears it on the man’s eyes,
and then directs him to go to the Pool of Siloam to wash.
Jesus chooses to heal this man with signs perceptible to the senses –
applying clay to his eyes and directing him to wash with water.
Here we discover the “logic” of the Church’s sacramental life whereby
visible signs drawn from nature produce “the works of God”,
in this case, opening the eyes of a man who, up to that point, was unable to see.
B. But Jesus wasn’t satisfied merely to impart sight to a blind man.
He was looking for something better, something deeper.
Jesus was looking seek to open the eyes of the man’s heart to the light of faith,
this man who, as yet, did not know who he was.
As the Gospel unfolds, the sacramental nature of Jesus’ healing becomes clear.
For the physical sight he imparted to blind man itself becomes a sign
of the interior enlightenment Jesus would bestowed on him – the gift of faith.
At length, the man could not only see nature in all its beauty,
but now he could gaze with the eyes of faith the beauty of Incarnate Savior.
Once his interior eyes were opened by the gift of faith,
this man bore witness to the One who healed him.
Thus, his journey from darkness, to physical sight, to the pure light of faith.
III. The Enlightenment of Lent
A. During the season of Lent, something comparable is happening.
Many in our midst have sought the Lord and are looking for the fullness of faith.
They are numbered among the elect
who are preparing for Baptism and reception into the Church.
The grace of the Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts,
curing them of the spiritual blindness that sin produces in all of us,
opening the eyes of minds and hearts with the light of faith
to the truth and beauty of the Person of Christ and the fullness of his teaching.
They too have encountered the Lord himself on the crossroads of life,
and he has granted them the vision of faith, a new horizon of hope,
and the insight that they belong to the God who loves them beyond all telling.
At Easter, their sins will be washed away by the waters of Baptism;
the Spirit will enlighten their hearts with his gifts,
and they will receive in the Eucharist the One who is “the light of the world”.
B. Something similar should be going in the minds and hearts of those of us
who have been Catholic our whole life long.
For us there is danger that we will take our faith for granted,
or that we will be deceived into thinking we are self-sufficient,
or that our understanding of the faith we profess is adequate,
or that our sins are inconsequential.
Lent calls us to re-examine our life of faith,
and to understand that you and I are not much different
than the blind man, a beggar, for we need what only Jesus can offer us.
We may still have the vision of faith
but it may be dimmed by sin or indifference.
Like cataracts, sin and indifference have a way
of clouding our faith in the God who loves us more than we ask or imagine.
To restore our vision of faith, Jesus no longer applies a paste of dirt and spittle,
but rather the healing balm of the Sacrament of Reconciliation
by which our sins are truly forgiven by the same merciful Savior
whom the man born blind encountered.
Indeed, this sacrament has been called “a second baptism”,
for our sins are washed away, again and again, not by water,
but by tears of repentance which God’s grace inspires in us.
Let us avail ourselves of this sacrament of mercy and peace during Lent
so that we may “walk as children of light” all the days of our lives.
IV. Opening the Eyes of a Nation
A. Finally, on this day when Baltimore’s annual St. Patrick Day Parade takes place,
a word about Saint Patrick himself.
It could be said that St. Patrick’s own eyes of faith were opened
during the period of his life when he was enslaved in Ireland.
Later, he returned there as a missionary
and by his preaching and courageous witness
brought the Christian faith to the Emerald Isle.
Thanks to his ministry, countless persons were converted to the faith,
and the eyes of a nation were opened to truth and love of Christ.
B. After man born blind was cured, he bore witness to the Lord,
just as St. Patrick did after he received the gift of faith.
Let us ask the intercession of St. Patrick,
that our vision of faith may be luminous,
and that we, like him, might bear witness to our faith
among family members, friends, and co-workers –
and thus help open their eyes to the One ‘who loves us and gave his life for us.’
May God bless us and keep us always in his love!