Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on the 4th Sunday of Lent, 15 March 2026, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Mati

Three years ago I received a sick call to anoint an elderly woman who just had a stroke. She was fighting for her life in the ICU. So I immediately went. When I approached her bed, nakita nako nga grabe na kaayo ang iyahang kahimtang: her eyes were closed; she was unable to move and to speak; and she could not even breathe on her own. Only the respirator was keeping her alive.

The blood clot inside her brain was just too deep that, according to the doctors, not even a brain surgery could be done. The medicines that they were giving her could only prolong her life but they were actually powerless to cure her. Wala pa kunoy tambal nga makapaayo kaniya. When I looked at her children surrounding her, I saw only sadness and distress; nasubo pag-ayo ang iyang mga anak. Their teary eyes couldn’t hide what their silence could. Aduna pa bay paglaum nga maayo pa ang ilang Mama? All their hopes for their mom’s recovery have slowly faded away.

Looking back at your life, has something similar ever happened to you? Sa inyong kinabuhi, nahitabo na ba ang susama nga kahimtang? Ug halos nawad-an na ka og paglaum? ..all hopes seemed to be gone?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we gather this evening to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Ang ebanghelyo karong adlawa nagpadayag kanato nga si Kristo maoy Balaang Mananambal. Nabuka gayod niya ang mga mata sa usa ka lalaki nga buta sukad pa sa iyang pagkahimugso. Humanly speaking, could a man born blind at that time be made to see by any eye specialist? No, it was impossible! But amazingly, Jesus was able to do it for that blind man.

If we reflect more deeply on this dramatic story, we realize that St John, the evangelist, is actually showing to us not only how that blind man was miraculously blessed with the gift of sight, but also how he was able to receive the gift of faith in the Lord Jesus.

Just consider this, physically the Pharisees were blessed with two eyes to see, but they chose to be blind before all the wonderful miracles that Jesus had been doing for the people. They chose to remain in their spiritual blindness. And worse of all, they even accused Jesus of having violated the Sabbath law of rest by curing the man born blind. Sad to say, therefore, they failed to receive the gift of faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Lord of all, and consequently, they also forfieted their chance to be saved.

Imagine, they were already standing face-to-face with the Light, who is Jesus himself personified, but they still preferred to stay in the darkness of their own pride and self-centeredness.

On the other hand, the man born blind, wasn’t so blessed at all to see Jesus with his eyes. But, because he listened and did exactly what Jesus told him to do – that is, to wash his mud-smeared eyes at the pool of Siloam – instantly, his eyes were opened and for the very first time in his life, he was able to see. Because of that, he quickly returned to Jesus, knelt down to worship him and became his disciple. Since then his life was never the same again.

At this moment, I ask you this question, do you see yourself in the man born blind? Nakita ba ninyo ang inyong kaugalingon sa lalaking buta? Some years ago, perhaps you were still spiritually blind and unable to see. Dili pa ninyo nakita ang kanindot sa kinabuhi, ang kalipay sa pagserbisyo, ang kahiusa sa banay ug sa katawhan, ang importansya sa pagsimba kada Domingo, ug ang bili sa mga sakramento. And everything seemed to be dark or colorless in your life.

But now, what? Tungod sa inyong buhing pagtoo sa Ginoo ug sa pagka-aktibo ninyo sa inyong GKK, dili na kamo buta. You are no longer blind. You can now see, for you are now filled with the light of Christ. Hence, every single day of your life you are called to remain in the light of Christ, and are challenged to stay always away from the darkness of corruption and sin.

If you recall last Sunday we heard the wonderful story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s well. Both of them were thirsty but on a different level. The woman’s thirst was for genuine love. Jesus’ thirst was for deep faith among the people. The good news is that after their heart-to-heart conversation, the woman found in Jesus the divine love she had been looking for, and she believed in him as the Messiah. Jesus on his part was overjoyed to find in her the firm faith he had been looking for.

These two gospel stories narrated to us by John today and last Sunday are so filled with signs and symbols that point to Jesus as the living water and the light of the world. Not only that, these symbols point also to the Church’s Sacraments today particularly the Sacrament of Baptism and the Eucharist.

As we gather to celebrate Jesus’ presence among us, we cannot but thank God for the gift of our Catholic faith, bestowed upon us through the waters of Baptism and is continually nourished by the Eucharist and the other Sacraments. Through these sacraments we are not only nourished, healed and empowered, but we are also transformed more and more into the image and likeness of Christ. Let us, therefore, come more frequently to receive the sacraments, for through them we encounter Christ, the living water that quenches our deepest thirst, and the true light that illumines our way.

Before I conclude you might be asking what happened to the elderly woman in my opening story. I’m sure you want to know the continuation. Naayo ba kaha siya o di?

When I saw how serious her condition was and how distressed her children were, I gave her the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. Akong gihatag kaniya ang sakramento sa pagpanambal sa masakiton. Afterwards I spoke with her sons and daughters and recommended that they take turns in having a heart to heart talk with their mom, before her condition would worsen and before the unwanted death would ever happen. And so one by one, they approached their mom, and they personally express to her their own “thank you’s” and their own “sorry’s” and their own prayerful wishes, and everything else they wanted to say.

After several days, she was already gone, I mean, gone from the hospital, for she has already been discharged. When the doctors thought that she could die any time, she has actually began to heal. At first she got discharged from the ICU, and then eventually from the hospital. At home her family took good care of her despite their limited means and resources. They tried to provide her with everything she needed for her recovery, including online Masses and Holy Communion.

Gradually she was able to move again her fingers, her hands, her feet, and her legs. She was able to sit on her bed and eat solid food again. Then she started sitting on a wheel chair, and began to eat at table together with her family. Some months ago I learned that she has started going back to church to attend Mass. Isn’t that a miracle? That elderly woman who was thought to die soon is back on her feet, walking again.

Brothers and sisters, isn’t Jesus so much alive even today? Yes, he is still healing the sick through the sacraments. He is still quenching our deepest thirst in life. He is still opening our eyes to cure us from our spiritual blindness. He is still raising us up who are spiritually dead due to our sins.

May our Eucharist today help us to prepare ourselves much better for the celebration of Easter. Today and these coming days may we encounter Jesus for real and soon share in the glory of his resurrection. GiGsss!