Update/Reflection from Fr. Gratton (22 MAR 2020)

Happy Laetare Sunday (4th Sunday in Lent), Everyone!

N.B. I celebrated two Masses today to spread extra grace in our area during this time:
1) For all of our parishioners and James Farrington+ (by the Conards)
2) For all of our parishioners and God’s Healing Hand on Bobbi and Dick Perez (by Steve & Cathy Day)

Reflection on today’s Mass readings (http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032220.cfm):

Today is called Laetare Sunday, which means “Rejoice!” in Latin. It is called Laetare Sunday because we are halfway through our journey of Lent. It reminds us that the Light is coming soon, and that our journey is almost over. It is a Sunday that brings hope and healing. It is a Sunday that leads us to the Light: Jesus Christ.

All of the readings are beautiful this weekend. We have King David being chosen by God in the First Book of Samuel; we have a very familiar Responsorial Psalm showing our Lord as our “shepherd”, and how in Him “we shall not want”; we have St. Paul reminding the young church community of Ephesus (being persecuted for their Faith) that although times are hard now, they are actually more in the light than ever before by being united to Christ in their sufferings, and realizing that the world’s darkness and fear can never take that light away from them; and finally, we have a great Gospel reading about the healing of the man born blind by Jesus.

I want to focus mainly on the First reading and the Gospel. Again, we have talked before about how these two readings are usually chosen every Sunday specifically because they have a link in common with each other. This Sunday is no different. Both settings are quite different, but they have a common thread: God works wonders in the most unexpected ways/circumstances.

What do I mean? Take a look at the First Reading. We see the Prophet Samuel setting out for Bethlehem to find Jesse and to anoint one of his sons as future king. Everyone involved in the story is looking for the strongest/wisest/most handsome/etc. They are doing what we, as humans, too often do: they are looking for superlatives in these young men. They are trying to determine “the best” by using the standards of the world. Even the holy prophet, Samuel, falls into this trap! They will soon find out that the world’s ways are not God’s ways, for it is only when the youngest, David, comes in from tending the sheep in the field, that the Lord rushes upon him and makes his choice known to all. God does not see the way that we see, but rather penetrates deep into the heart. He knows each and every one of us, our gifts and weaknesses, and sets us on a path that many times the world simply does not understand. He sets us on paths that, frankly, we do not always understand. But God sees something special. He does not do the expected. No, He shows His wonder by doing the unexpected; by doing the impossible.

This leads us to the Gospel. We are presented with a man who has been blind since birth. Jesus encounters his weakness and heals him completely. It throws the entire community off-kilter. From the top officials, to the lowliest of townspeople, everyone is agog at what has just taken place—and strangely, everyone is arguing over the wrong thing… They are all trying to figure out whether the man who healed this blind person is a good man or a bad man, and whether he healed this poor person through the right protocols. They are completely focused on the wrong things. They are not seeing that God always does the extraordinary at the most unexpected times. Everything about this miracle shows Jesus working outside the normal channels of these peoples’ worldview:
- He heals a “nobody” in the eyes of the community
- He heals him by mixing his spit with dirt from the ground—with no other grand gestures or props
- He heals him on a Sabbath, knowing full well that He is superseding His own law with an act of sacrificial love
- He focuses in on this man’s weakness, rather than his strength
- He does not defend himself when all are questioning His motives and methods.

This entire miracle is Jesus doing the impossible, doing the unexpected. He shows us His massive strength in ways that we simply cannot fathom. He breaks down our normal worldviews, and forces us to look again, to look anew, to see what is really going on. He reminds us over and over again that He does His best work through our weaknesses and not our strengths—if only we have the courage to give them over to Him.

The First Reading and the Gospel both show us how God does not work in ways that we always think He should. He does the unexpected. He works the impossible. And He does it in ways that make us step back and realize that He knows our hearts better than we know them ourselves. He knows where we need to grow, and He knows where we need to be healed. Most importantly, however, He knows the best way to do it.

Why do I bring all of this up? I cannot help but look at the last week, and the weeks to come, as one of these healing and unexpected moments. Yes, it is natural to see all that is going on around us as scary, confusing, an absence of God, etc. In fact, I have heard many people (especially on the news…) seeing this situation through that lens. I have also, however, heard the exact opposite from people!
Many of you have called me, or emailed me, saying how God is doing something special in your hearts right now. How you didn’t expect it, but a simple walk outside has become such a powerful experience. That stepping into one of our unlocked churches for a few moments of prayer has been deeper for you than you can ever remember. That a little extra time to sleep, or catch up on reading, or being with family, or focusing more on calling loved ones and friends over the phone seems to be more important these days than they have in a long time.

Last night I joined a group of my closest friends from grade school online for a video chat. Many of them I haven’t seen or spoken with for years. We are a motley crew: a mom of three; a movie producer from New York; a police officer; a nurse; a restaurant owner; a member of the Air Force; a web designer; and the weirdest of all…a Catholic priest. We began our video chat a bit awkwardly, not knowing fully how it worked and who should talk first, etc. All of a sudden, we realized that hours had gone by of laughter, old memories, real concerns about life, inside jokes, etc. We did not know where the time had gone. And then it happened. Out of nowhere, we all reflected to each other: “isn’t it strange that it took something like this virus to bring all of us together again?” We all agreed that it had been a big boost to the soul and that we needed to do it more often. We were reminded once again about the things that are truly important in our lives. We realized the many things that we had taken for granted before this outbreak. We realized what worldly lies we had succumbed to—that money, making a life for ourselves, and working endless hours were more important than connecting with friends who truly cared about us. We realized what we had been missing all this time.

If we look at the world right now, there is still a lot of fear, darkness, and uncertainty. It can be overwhelming at times, and it can be hard to see God’s plan in all of it. But the more I hear stories of people coming together to help one another; of people realizing all of the simple gifts that they had taken for granted for so long; of stories like my virtual reunion with my friends and how refreshing it was to the soul just spending time with people that I love; I wonder if God doesn’t know exactly what He is doing. Perhaps our Father in Heaven is using this time to remind us of what is really important in life: Him and each other. Perhaps He is healing our souls that have been so frayed and stressed for so long. And perhaps He is simply doing what He always does: working wonders deep within our hearts in the most unexpected ways imaginable.

With a God who can do all that, how could we not rejoice!

Happy Laetare Sunday, everyone. Know that I love you, and that I keep you close to my heart every time I approach the altar.

In Christ’s Abundant Peace,
Fr. Gratton