GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings) DATE: 26TH MARCH 2017 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT FIRST READING: 1Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 PSALM: Psalm 23:1-6 SECOND READING: Ephesians 5:8-14 GOSPEL: John 9:1-41 THEME: ANOINT HIM

I came across a religious inscription on a t-shirt which reads, “The anointing makes a difference.” As I pondered over this statement over and over again, it dawned upon me forcefully that the secret of fruitfulness in any sphere of life is the anointing of God on a person. In Judeo-Christian tradition, ‘anointing’ sets a person, place or thing apart. God acts on that which he sets apart and manifests his glory.

 

In our First Reading, the Lord said to the prophet Samuel concerning David, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he" (1 Sam. 16:12). When Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers, we are told, “…the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam. 16:13). That act of anointing changed David and made an ordinary man, extraordinary.

Jesus also anointed a man in our Gospel text. We read, “he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay” (Jn. 9:6). This act of Jesus brought a massive change in the life of the blind man. After washing in the pool of Siloam, the man came back seeing. The transformation was so great that his neighbours wondered whether or not he was the same person. Jesus had told his disciples, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him” (Jn. 9:3).

 

The anointing of God makes a big difference in the life of a person. The psalmist rightly sings, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Ps. 23:5). In Christ, we too have been anointed. In him, we are destined to make a difference wherever we find ourselves. We have been set apart to manifest the works of God. Paul writes “You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord”(Eph. 5:8).

The season of Lent affords us the opportunity to ‘activate’ in our lives the anointing that we received when we believed -- that which was offered to us through the sacraments of Christian initiation. As we prayerfully wait on God during this period, the anointing makes us new and brings us innumerable blessings.