Sent

My key word for today is SENT.

When the People of God left Egypt, they spent 40 years in the Sinai Desert. Then they moved into the Promised Land. But life in the Promised Land was not all sweetness and light.

The big problem was robbers. While they were tending their flocks, the robbers would come and steal things from their tents. The worst robbers of all were the Midianites. Why? Because they had domesticated the camel. When they robbed you, they took more than one or two things from your tent. They took everything and loaded it onto their camels and headed for the hills.

The Midianite problem was solved when Gideon came along. Gideon was a farmer, and one day he heard two soldiers talking. The first soldier said, “In my dream last night I saw a loaf of bread rolling across the desert. It ran into a tent and knocked the tent down. I wonder what that means.” The second soldier said, “I think it’s a message from God. God is saying that we will defeat the Midianites and flatten their tents.” That dream was an inspiration for Gideon. He put together an army and attacked the Midianites. They came with a surprise attack at night and sent the Midianites running in all directions.

The Midianites were easily defeated, and soon their tents were all lying flat on the ground.

Then the People of God wanted to make Gideon their king. But Gideon said, “No. I will not rule over you. Only God will rule over you. God called me when I was harvesting the wheat, and God sent me to defeat the Midianites; but God did not send me to be your king. I will only do what God sent me to do.” Gideon said, “I will do what God sent me to do.” And in my homily today, I want to talk about people who do what God sent them to do.

If you are looking for a key word today, the word is “sent.” Watch for the word “sent” in all that follows.

In the first reading, Samuel was sent by God to anoint a new king because King Saul had disobeyed God. Saul had kept for himself the gold and silver which he had seized from the enemy during a battle. God sent Samuel to anoint David, one of the sons of Jesse.

Jesse was hoping that Samuel would anoint one of his older sons, but Samuel could not be deterred from doing his job. He kept searching and searching for David. He finally found David tending a flock of sheep, and he fulfilled his mission by anointing David right on the spot. The anointing took place not in a palace, not in a courtroom, but in a sheep pasture near Bethlehem. Samuel had been sent by God to anoint David, and he fulfilled his mission before returning to Jerusalem.

Now let’s move to our reading from John’s Gospel. Today’s story takes place at the pool of Siloam. Siloam is the Hebrew word which means “sent.” The story begins with Jesus saying, “God has sent me to be the light of the world.” Thirty-two times in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I come to do the will of God who sent me.”

Today Jesus says, “God sent me to bring light into the world.” And then he brings light to the man who was blind from birth. Jesus brings light to him on two levels: the physical level and the spiritual level. When his eyes are opened, he is able to see daylight, and he is able to distinguish between trees and houses and people.

On the spiritual level, his eyes of faith are opened. They open gradually, and he slowly comes to see who Jesus really is. In fact, it’s a three-step process. At first, he sees Jesus as “that man who healed me.” A few minutes later, he sees Jesus differently. He says, “Jesus is a prophet.” Later that day, he sees the fullness of the truth. He says, “Jesus is the Lord!” and then he bows down and worships him.

Now let’s move that story forward and look at what is happening in 2026. Our faith tells us that Jesus continues to bring light into the world. He continues to do what he was sent to do. Jesus fills us with light and calls us children of the light. In today’s second reading, St. Paul reminds us that we are children of the light. We are filled with the light of Christ, and the light of Christ helps us to see things with the eyes of faith. This special light helps us to see what is really important in life; namely, loving God and loving our neighbor. We love God by setting aside time for prayer so that we can open our hearts to the One who loved us first.

We love our neighbors by serving them without seeking reward, by being merciful when they seek forgiveness, and by being truly sorry when we have hurt them.

And now I would like to ask each of us to take a moment to use our eyes of faith to look for the light of Christ.

That is what we have been sent to do. God sent Gideon to defeat the Midianites. God sent Samuel to anoint David to serve as the new king. And God is sending us to look for the light of Christ. Where is the light of Christ shining in your life? God sent Jesus into the world to bring light into our lives, and now God is sending us to see the light of Christ in the world in which we live.

Where do you see the light of Christ today?

Introduction to the Mass

Our Catholic liturgy says that Lent is a joyful season, and today is a joyful day. On Ash Wednesday, we had a prayer which said, “We thank you, Lord, for giving us Lent as a joyful season to prepare for Easter.” And today we are celebrating the liturgy of Laetare Sunday, which is Latin for Joyful Sunday.

During this holy season, we become more aware of our sinfulness and more conscious that Jesus has set us free from the power of sin. And that is the reason for our happiness: Jesus has set us free from the power of sin.

Lord Jesus, you bring us your healing grace even when we fail to do your will. Lord, have mercy.

You call us to proclaim the Good News with courage and conviction. Christ, have mercy.

You call us to proclaim with joy the wonders of your saving love. Lord, have mercy.