March 15, 2026
Revised Common Lectionary
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (1)
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1 (2-5) 6-9 (10-12) 13-17 (18-33) 34-38 (39-41)
It’s often said that “seeing is believing.” But how well do we really see, especially when viewing other persons?
The story we hear in today’s Gospel reading demonstrates just how deceptive our ordinary vision can be. It begins with an act of healing—Jesus opening the eyes of a man born blind. Significantly, however, the greatest healing that takes place in this story is not the restoration of the blind man’s physical sight, but his growing appreciation that Jesus is the one sent by God and the faith that he comes to place in him. The man gradually comes to see what the religious leaders cannot. They think that they can see clearly, and yet Jesus shows that they are quite blind. Seeing is not always believing.
We so often view others and judge them based on outward appearances. At the beginning of the story, the man is known to everyone simply as the guy who was blind from birth. Because of his disability, he is pigeonholed, regarded with suspicion, and viewed as someone tainted with sin. He is portrayed in the story as the object of discrimination, someone held in low regard—a victim of flawed assumptions.
The sign that Jesus performs exposes this discrimination based on appearances. Did you notice that once the man is able to see, many people in the community don’t even recognize him, while the religious leaders taunt him as one who had been born in sin? This spiritual blindness extends even to the man’s parents who are gripped with fear and distance themselves from their son.
The light of faith can unmask the ugliness of discrimination. Christ’s healing can open our eyes and our hearts to let go of false judgments based on disability, race, economic status, age, or any kind of outward appearance that inhibits accepting and loving people as they really are. We can instead look upon others, ourselves, and the world around us as God does. Samuel discovered this truth when he anointed the young shepherd boy David to be king. He learned that “the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam 16:7).
At Easter—in just three weeks—some of us will be plunged into the waters of rebirth as together the whole community of believers recalls and renews the baptismal covenant. As we continue our journey toward Easter, today’s Gospel reading invites us to be cured of our spiritual blindness—to let go of our old ways of seeing and allow our vision to be guided by the light of Christ. Significantly, early Christians looked to this story and to the powerful image of Christ as the light of the world for a deeper understanding of baptism, which they often referred to as enlightenment or illumination.
In the water, the eyes of our hearts and minds are opened to see as God sees. Our understanding is transformed by the Christ-light that shines into every corner of our lives and of the world around us. The baptized believer relies not merely on appearances but on the wisdom that comes from faith in Christ.
Today’s Scriptures offer us this encouragement: “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph 5:14)
A Hymn for Today: “See whose glory fills the skies / Jesus, the Light of the World”
The Gospel tune WE’LL WALK IN THE LIGHT, published by George D. Elderkin in 1890, is built on a refrain that invites the singing community to “walk in the light, . . . Jesus, the light of the world.” The refrain is usually paired with selected verses from Charles Wesley’s Christmas hymn, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Elderkin’s tune is crafted in a musical style that was popular at the time, often referred to as “gospel waltz.” To learn more about the complex history of this hymn, click here for a very informative article by C. Michael Hawn, FHS.
The editors of Voices Together, the newest hymnal of the Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, have adapted verses from Wesley’s hymn, “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies” and used them in place of the Christmas text. In doing so, they have shifted the focus of this hymn from the light of Christ’s birth to the light of Christ’s risen glory that shines in the world and in our hearts today. See below for the version that appears in Voices Together in an arrangement by African American composer Evelyn Simpson-Curenton (b. 1953).
Though it originates from the white Gospel tradition, this hymn has been widely embraced and musically adapted by African American churches. Click here for a recording by the choir of Alfred Street Baptist Church, Alexandria, Virginia, singing this hymn with Wesley’s familiar Christmas text.
See whose glory fills the skies:
Jesus, the light of the world!
Sun of righteousness, arise:
Jesus, the light of the world! Refrain
Refrain
We’ll walk in the light! Beautiful light!
Shine where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright.
Oh, shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus, the light of the world.
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief,
Jesus, the light of the world!
Scatter all my unbelief,
Jesus, the light of the world! Refrain
More and more thyself display,
Jesus, the light of the world!
Shining to the perfect day,
Jesus, the light of the world! Refrain
Visit, then, this soul of mine,
Jesus, the light of the world!
Fill me, Radiancy divine!
Jesus, the light of the world! Refrain
Text: adapt. from Charles Wesley, 1707-1788, “Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies”; additional text and refrain George D. Elderkin, 1845-1928
Tune: WE’LL WALK IN THE LIGHT, George D. Elderkin
Image Credit: Colored light bathes the interior of Saint-Julien in Brioude, France
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