Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, 2026

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1, 6-9,13-17, 34-38

Not as man sees does God see, because man sees

the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.

We see in the first reading how carefully the future King David was selected from among his brothers. He was not the immediate first choice to be anointed king! As a lowly shepherd, and the youngest of seven sons, what had he done to attract the notice even of his family? When the prophet Samuel asked Jesse to see his sons, David had been left out in the pasture and had to be summoned after all the others appeared ! Yet, as God’s chosen king, and the ancestor of the future Messiah, David matured personally in humility and courage and led God’s people to many victories in the Promised Land.

Other holy leaders also may have seemed unlikely candidates for their positions, but God used their personal qualities and life experiences to make saintly contributions to the people around them. If you could publicly honor one person in a major city in our country, whom would you choose?

After wading through 157 proposals and eight top candidates, the citizens of Chicago made their choice. An Italian immigrant from the last century who happens to be our country’s first native canonized saint, was chosen by the citizens of Chicago! A statue honoring Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini’ will be designed and placed in Arrigo Park, an area that is home to more recent immigrants.

Our cultural and family background helps shape our personality, as Mother Cabrini’s did.

Mother Cabrini was specially chosen from childhood. Her dreams of missionary work were adjusted, sometimes painfully by the hand of God, until she had established 67 institutions: schools, hospitals and orphanages! Who in Mother Cabrini’s family could have predicted her astounding future accomplishments? She was the thirteenth of thirteen children, she nearly drowned as a child, and suffered from debilitating illnesses during her whole life.

You and I were also identified even before we were born to become the saints that God had in mind when He created us. God uses every aspect of our lives to bring us closer to Him. Like King David and Mother Cabrini whom we consider today, God will unite us with Himself through our struggles. He leads, on the way of the Cross and beyond! He has chosen us, too.

Lent is a good time to listen more attentively to the Holy Spirit. Our faithful God will grant the graces we need to fulfill the mission entrusted to us, even if our idea of it is not yet clear!

There – anoint him, for this is the One!