A new perspective on Life:
The Fourth Sunday in Lent 2026
March 15, 2026
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Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-42
These readings show us that God views the world differently the way humans do, and we are invited to see as God sees. We first glimpse this when we hear that story of the call of David who was deemed insignificant by his family. The prophet Samuel scrutinized the older brothers and determined that the youngest, the one almost forgotten, was the one who would lead them forward. The Gospel then shows us the story of the blind man who comes to faith and achieves greater consciousness.
The coming to sight story begins with real human experience. Jesus takes dirt from the earth, spits into it and makes clay, reminiscent of the Creation story in Genesis. Jesus re-enacts that he is aware of God’s original plan in Eden and he recreates this man with fuller sight. He then smears it onto the man’s eyes and instructs him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man continues his evolving process of coming to full sight.
The human reactions to his evolution produce great ambivalence. Some neighbors disbelieve, his parents are cautious to speak, and some Pharisees concluded that the one who healed him could not come from God. It is quite rich that so many people stayed in the conversation with the man. At first, it was an interrogation, but that it developed into an authentic dialogue about wanting to understand. The people move from condemnation to inquiry to possible conversion.
Think of the conversations that you have had at home when you have formed your children in the faith and they no longer attend worship services. Or that someone in the family that staunchly adheres to one political party comes to see the world through the lens of a different party. How does this happen that people brought up with the same formation come to see differently. What a mystery this is! It causes bewilderment. We wonder what we did wrong. How did this happen? How do people see things so differently? Sometimes, we wonder, “How can someone I love so much be so blind to what is happening in the world? How can they hold such beliefs?” We have the same conversations as we heard in the Gospel passage.
What is this Gospel trying to teach us? We have responsibility for our own formation. We have to go down to the pool of Siloam to wash our eyes and gain sight. It teaches us that faith is a process. It is something that grows with trust, through questioning, through doubt, and it is often experienced alone. It can be a cause of tension that leads to separation from some and acceptance by others. We search for reasons. We want answers. Jesus assures us that the questions are important for our full coming to faith because he asks: Do you believe in the Son of Man? We respond: Show me who God is, and I will believe. When Jesus reveals who he is we can respond in full worship.
Jesus wants us to see that he proposes a radically new perspective on life, and he gives us an alternative perception to the consciousness of the dominant culture around us. He invites us into a more inclusive way of thing and into a metanoia, a change of heart, in which we can see God’s work in action all around us. He sees an evolutionary world created by love and for loving. God stand ahead of us time beckoning us forward. God works in our lives by inviting us to take our next steps in growth and to accept the loving, all-embracing consciousness of God. God’s love unites all humanity, and we are united to Christ by entering into communion with all people. We continue to evolve as your sight becomes clearer. At the end of the day, all we can do is to stand tall and worship.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Isaiah 65) The Lord is about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered; there will always be rejoicing and happiness.
Tuesday: (Ezekiel 47) The angel brought the prophet to the entrance of the temple where life-giving water flowed forth and bringing life to all.
Wednesday: (Isaiah 49) The Lord finds favor with Israel and promises help on the day of salvation. The Lord will help Israel keep the commandments because He cannot forget her beauty.
Thursday: (2 Samuel 7) The Lord said to David: Your house shall endure forever; your throne shall stand firm forever.
Friday: (Wisdom 2) The wicked said, “Let us beset the just one because he is obnoxious to us. Let us revile him and condemn him to a shameful death.”
Saturday: (Jeremiah 11) Jeremiah knew their plot, but like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized they were hatching plots against him.
Gospel:
Monday: (John 4) Jesus returned to Galilee where he performed his first miracle. Some believed in him. A royal official approached him as his child lay dying, but at the hour Jesus spoke to him, his son recovered.
Tuesday: (John 5) Jesus encountered an ill man lying next to a healing pool, but when the water is stirred up, no one is around to put him in. Jesus heals him and he walks away. The Jews protest that Jesus cured on the Sabbath. The Jews began to persecute Jesus.
Wednesday: (John 5) Jesus explains that he is the unique revealer of God and cannot do anything on his own. He judges as he hears and his judgment is just because he does not seek his own will.
Thursday: (Matthew 1) The birth of Jesus came about through Mary, betrothed to Joseph. In his dream, the angel tells Joseph to take the pregnant Mary as his wife.
Friday: (John 7) Jesus did not wish to travel around Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him, but he went up during the feast of Tabernacles where he was spotted. He cried up in the streets, “You know me and you know where I am from.”
Saturday: (John 7) Some in the crowd said, “This is the prophet.” Some said, “This is the Christ.” A division occurred because of him because they could not settled how he fit into Scripture. Nicodemus interjected, “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” The crowd dispersed to their homes.
Saints of the Week
March 17: Patrick, bishop (389-461), is the revered Apostle of Ireland and patron saint of many U.S. dioceses. He is credited for bringing the faith to all of Ireland. He was abducted and enslaved at age 16 by pirates and taken to Ireland where he worked as a cattle herder and shepherd in the mountains. He escaped after six years and eventually returned to his native Britain where he became a priest. Pope Celestine sent Patrick as a missionary to Ireland to evangelize them. Though he was under constant risk from hostile pagans, he converted many of them and developed a native clergy by the time of his death.
March 19: Joseph, husband of Mary is honored today for his support of Mary in their marriage. He is portrayed as a righteous man who obeys the will of God. Therefore, his ancestry is upheld as a virtuous stock through which God’s promises come true. We seldom contemplate his marital relationship to Mary and his responsibility to love and raise Jesus as his son. He was a descendent of King David and a carpenter or builder by trade. In Matthew's dream sequence, Joseph was embarrassed by Mary's pregnancy before their marriage but went through with the wedding because he was a righteous man. He considered dissolving their marriage because of Mosaic Law but is told in a dream to take Mary as his wife and to raise Jesus as his own. He is honored as the earthly father of Jesus.
This Week in Jesuit History
- March 15, 1632. The death of Diego Ruiz, a great theologian, who studied on his knees.
- March 16, 1649. The martyrdom in Canada of St John de Brebeuf, apostle to the Huron Indians. Captured by the Iroquois along with some Christian Hurons, he endured horrible tortures.
- March 17, 1964. The death of Joseph O’Callaghan. He was awarded the US Medal of Honor for heroism as chaplain on the USS Franklin, off Japan on March 19, 1945.
- March 18, 1541. Two letters arrived from Lisbon from Francis Xavier. One was addressed to Ignatius, the other to Frs. LeJay and Laynez. They were written just before his departure to India.
- March 19, 1836. By imperial decree, the Society was allowed to re-enter the Austrian dominions.
- March 20, 1602. The first "Disputatio de Auxiliis" was held before Clement VIII. The disputants were Fr. Gregory de Valentia SJ and Fr. Diego Alvarez OP.
March 21, 1768. In Spain, at a special meeting of the Council of State in the presence of King Charles III, the Suppression of the Society was urged on the pretense that it was independent of the bishops, that it plotted against the State, and that it was lax in its teaching.
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