On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, called Laetare Sunday, we are invited to rejoice, as we get a sneak peak at Easter, when we are reminded that Christ is our Light.  You see on the banners outside the church our theme for Lent this year:  “Called to be Light.”  And at masses this weekend we will distribute purple bracelets with this theme.  They refer to the Easter Vigil, when the only light in the church building will be the Easter candle, reminding us of the truth of the words in today’s gospel, when Jesus says, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

We are called to be light by having the light of Christ inside of us.  We are called to see in a new way.  When David, the youngest son of Jesse is chosen to be king by Samuel the prophet, he is chosen not because he is the oldest, the wisest, or because of any quality visible to the human eye.  Rather, the Lord, “who looks into the heart,” sees something in him that makes him want David as the king.  And also in the gospel, Jesus says after he cures the blind man, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”  Jesus is advocating a new way of perceiving and judging reality that might not be so obvious.  It is a new way of seeing.

Our previous Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, SJ, was often talking about a new way of seeing.  He talked about a kind of “third eye,” which is not a physical eye, but it was a way of seeing beyond the physical reality in front of us to something deeper. It was an invitation to wider, more compassionate, more universal vision of the world.  He wanted us Jesuits to always go deeper, and see beyond the superficial, and read the signs of the times.  What is the meaning behind what we see?  What does it mean to be Catholic in a time when we see such harshness towards the other, towards our immigrant brothers and sisters?  How do we think about the war our country is engaged in?  What decisions do we make about how we will live?  May we see with Christ’s eyes!