Fourth Sunday of Lent - Laetare Sunday

God tells Samuel to stop mourning and go to Bethlehem. He's chosen a king from among Jesse's sons. Samuel sees the oldest - tall, impressive - and thinks, surely this is the one. God says no. Not as man sees does God see. Man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart. Seven sons pass. None is chosen. The eighth, the youngest, the one nobody thought to invite, is out tending sheep. David. Anointed in the presence of his brothers.

Then John gives us the man born blind. The disciples ask whose sin caused it - his or his parents'? Jesus rejects the question entirely: neither. This happened so the works of God might be made visible. He makes clay, anoints the man's eyes, and says: go wash. The man washes. He sees.

What follows is a slow-motion disaster of people who can see perfectly well but refuse to recognize what's in front of them. The Pharisees interrogate the man. They interrogate his parents. They demand explanations. The man born blind keeps saying the same thing: I was blind and now I see. And the people with perfect vision are the ones who end up blind.

For families, Laetare Sunday is a deep breath in the middle of Lent. Rejoice. The rose vestments say: the darkness is not forever. The light is coming. But the Gospel warns: the light doesn't automatically help you see. You can be surrounded by light and still be blind - blind to your child's gifts because they don't match your expectations, blind to your spouse's exhaustion because you're too focused on your own, blind to God's work because it doesn't look the way you planned.

David was overlooked because he was young and small. The blind man was dismissed because he was poor and broken. God chose both. God sees what you miss.

As a family, pray together:

• For the Church, especially the elect preparing for Baptism at Easter - that today's Second Scrutiny would open their eyes to see Christ clearly. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For the overlooked and underestimated in our world - the Davids tending sheep while everyone else is at the banquet: that God would anoint them in his time. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For our family - that we would see each other the way God sees: not by appearance but by the heart. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For the faithful departed - that the Lord who is their shepherd would lead them to verdant pastures and restful waters forever. Lord, hear our prayer.

At dinner today, ask each family member: where have you seen God at work this week in a way you almost missed? Practice seeing what God sees.