Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 3, 2011 Fourth Sunday of Lent

Good News Reflection FOR NEXT SUNDAY: April 3, 2011 Fourth Sunday of Lent Parish bulletins, faith-sharing groups, RCIA: For professionally published, printable copies of this reflection, please go to Catholic Digital Resources: http://catholicdr.com/calendar/Lent/Lent4.htm - Preview a sample This reflection is also available as an audio podcast: http://gnm.org/DailyReflections/podcasts and as part of a downloadable ebook of the entire Season of Lent: http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/Lent.htm Next Sunday's Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1b,6-7,10-13a Psalm 23:1-6 Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-4 http://www.usccb.org/nab/040311.shtml USCCB Podcast of the Readings: http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/11_04_03.mp3 Conversion to Christ is a process. The blind man in the Gospel reading exemplifies this journey into faith. Notice that he did not go to Jesus. Jesus came to him. The man responded by waiting to find out what would happen and then by obeying Jesus. Conversion begins when Jesus seeks us out and we make ourselves available to his touch. He then opens our eyes to the truth, but we don’t immediately understand. When the man’s neighbors asked about his cure, he did not yet understand who Jesus was; he thought of him as just a man. Then, under the pressure of listening to the Pharisees argue about who Jesus was, he had to give it more thought. He concluded that Jesus must be a prophet, which for the Jews was a highly esteemed holy vocation. Next, as the Pharisees treated him more roughly and raised the possibility of expelling him from the synagogue if he claimed that Jesus was the Christ, he began to wonder whether it might be true. Their reasons for hating Jesus became the eye-openers that cured his spiritual blindness. Lastly, Jesus sought him out again, this time to minister to him in response to the mistreatment he had suffered from the Pharisees. In this act of caring, the man could see who Jesus really was. Conversion – the purification of our spiritual vision – takes place in the fire of our sufferings as we recognize the love and concern that God has for us. Questions for Personal Reflection: Think of an area of your life where there is confusion from a lack of understanding. Perhaps you’re having a hard time seeing the good in someone. Maybe you’re worried about the future. What will you do this week that will help you see it from God’s perspective? Questions for Community Faith Sharing: In the first reading, God makes it clear that he sees what we cannot see when we're focused on external evidence. Think of a time when you looked deeper or beyond the obvious. How did that change you? In Ephesians 5, we read that we have become light in the Lord. Name some of the good fruits that come from the ability to see what Jesus is doing in your life. The Gospel reading illustrates that those who think they can see the truth are very often blind, and those who acknowledge their blindness become able to see clearly. Why does this happen? Has it happened to you? © 2011 by Terry A. Modica This work is NOT in Public Domain and may NOT be copied without permission. You may print one copy for your own personal use. For PERMISSION and info on how to copy this reflection for sharing, see: http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm Seeking a past reflection? Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free to subscribers of these emailed reflections.

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