From the first words of sacred scripture, we realize the  importance of light. The concept of light in our society is   a very important thing. We have created artificial means to light our lives and without enough daylight we can   become sickly. We manipulate our clocks to gain more of it as we did a  couple weeks ago. Isn’t it great that we   have more light at the end of the day instead of it being dark when we come home from work. Winter seems   more difficult when there is less light. Seasonal depression is a real phenomenon.

 I remember about 30 years ago going to a "haunted" hayride with my 5 year old niece, (who is now a mother of   two young children) and some other family members. The ride didn’t start until it had gotten dark. It was a good   time, as scary people would come running up to the trailer that the tractor pulled slowly. Some had  machetes,   one had a chainsaw (without the chain). Because of the darkness of the night, you could hear them coming but   could not see them until they got very close, which made the ride fun. At the very end, the tractor pulled us into

 a huge barn with no lights at all. It was considerably darker than even being outside once the door closed   behind  us. Dark and quiet. You knew something was going to happen. Just after you got settled and were trying

 to make out what was around, these ghoulish characters would jump at the trailer and grab someone and 

 people would scream. You literally could not see your hand in front of you. Then, without warning, the brightest

 lights I had ever seen came on, all at once for about 5 seconds and then completely went out. Your eyes could

 not adjust that quickly and you really felt as though they were blind. The light that normally would have been

 helpful actually made the sense of sight worse.

 In this week's Gospel, the Lord heals a blind man. Not only did he receive the gift of sight, but he also  received an opportunity to see that Jesus had been sent by the Father and had the power of God to heal. He saw a miracle happen. Jesus was not a blinding light to this man as the artificial lights of that barn were to me. 

So while we have this historical event, the healing of a blind man, the bigger picture is the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees showed the extent of their spiritual blindness as they were "blind" to the will of God. They wanted to condemn Jesus as a sinner for breaking the Sabbath because that was the way they saw the world based on their interpretation of the Law of Moses. But the man born blind could not deny what was right in front of his face. At this point, the Pharisees had decided to cast out anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah. He didn’t claim Jesus was the Messiah, but when he presented overwhelming logic to the Pharisees: “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he  listens to him… If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” His healing was to show God working, but the Pharisees couldn’t accept that and cast him out. Jesus went looking for him and gave him the opportunity to believe in him as the Messiah, and he accepted wholeheartedly. Our Lord had not just restored his sight; he’d given him the light to see salvation at his doorstep and the need to give witness to it.

Believing in Jesus Christ means much more than what our culture wants us to think. It means giving our lives to him, following him no matter what, and not being afraid to bear witness to his love, goodness, truth, and power. We are his followers, we are his ambassadors - in being true to this identity is our lasting joy. So we are just over the halfway point of lent and because of it we rejoice this Sunday, Laetare Sunday and our color (Rose or pink) reflects our sense of rejoicing. Whether it is an end to winter, less darkness of the day, but most especially because we are now closer to the celebration of the light of the world, Christ our Light, in just a few short weeks at Easter.

God may not ask all of us to go to the extremes of martyrdom. But He is asking all of us to renew our faith in Jesus Christ this Lenten season. To shake off spiritual blindness, in whatever form it takes uniquely for each of us and use the remainder of lent to wash the "mud" from our eyes that we may see true light.

May the God who gives light to the world continue to bless us each day of our lives. 

God Bless!

Frank

2025 APPEAL

This year’s theme: “Our Journey United in Hope,” is inspired by the theme of the Jubilee Year, “Pilgrims of Hope.”

 It reflects our collective commitment to walk on the path together with the hope Christ has provided us.

It invites us to be renewed in hope by bringing hope to others through individual gifts. Through our various ministries across the diocese your gift is shared and brings comfort, relief, encouragement and support to many.

Next weekend, February 8^th & 9^th, we will be holding our Catholic Ministries Appeal In-Pew Weekend. In preparation, you should receive a mailing from Bishop Sullivan that will include the 2025 South Jersey Catholic Ministries Appeal materials. I ask that you please consider donating to this year’s campaign. It is important that we come together to support our ministries. They need the resources necessary to continue serving those in need.

By supporting the Catholic Ministries Appeal, you are supporting those who comprise the programs and ministries of the Diocese of Camden. These ministries serve the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the hungry and challenged. When we support the Catholic Ministries Appeal, we can bring the light of hope to those in the Catholic community of South Jersey.

Please prayerfully consider joining us once again.