“Transformed by Hope” is proposed as a space of listening and discernment on the Sunday Gospels that will accompany our Lenten journey.

The initiative, promoted by the UISG Women Theologians, is situated within the horizon opened by the Jubilee and seeks to prolong its grace, continuing to live our vocation as pilgrims of hope amid the challenges of the present time.

Each week, in the light of the Word of God, we will contemplate an aspect of the conversion to which we are called, allowing ourselves to be guided by the Spirit on the journey toward Easter. It is an invitation to allow evangelical hope to shape our way of believing, of living communion, and of participating in the mission of the Church.

During the Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as “Laetare,” the reflection on the Gospel of John (9:1–41) is offered by Sr. Mariel de Villa, OP.

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5)

    
Being blind must be a debilitating handicap and life-depriving. Such must be in the time of Jesus where blind people, physically disabled, mentally deficient, evil possessed and women discriminated were among his favored ones in his mission to heal/redeem. The blind may not see Jesus but what is most important is that Christ sees their blindness not as a sin but “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9: 3). It is this inner joy of experiencing Christ that brings about not just a restoration of sight but a renewal of heart, ‘walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Cor.5:7).  The joy not only of seeing Jesus but living and being with him is what consecrated life signifies.

In this Fourth Lenten Laetare Sunday, as Jesus encounters the man born blind (John 9:1-41), the sight he gave him did not only allow him to see the world, but most essentially for him to embrace his healer in faith. Laetare echoes the fulness of joy not only by what one sees but by receiving Jesus himself, the Light of the world (Jn. 9:5). Unlike the blind man’s neighbors (Jn. 9:8-12) whose curiosity and ignorance blinded them to see Jesus. The inquisitiveness, deafness and doubts of the pharisees blinded them to see the light Jesus himself offers. (Jn.9:13-34). And so, Jesus addressed another kind of blindness, not physical but a spiritual blindness (Jn. 9:35-41). 

Spiritual blindness in consecrated life, like the Pharisees in John 9, refers to the risk of focusing merely on externals (rules, appearances,) versus true spiritual sight (love, merch, Jesus’ light). It signifies prioritizing structures over people or mission, missing God’s presence in daily life, ignoring inner promptings or areas for growth and “seeing” only from one’s personal perspective and not God’s.

This Laetare Sunday urgently calls Consecrated Women to respond to this spiritual blindness towards a renewed heart and a transformed mind by:

• Embracing-practicing prophetic listening: heeding the cries of the poor
• Serving humbly, being sensitive to the needs of the sick of our communities
• Accompanying, mentoring and engaging into the ministry of presence
• Guiding, like the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4), who sees Jesus, lead others to him
• Sharing stories of God’s mercy, revealing His light in darkness.