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Views from the Choir Loft

Homily: 4th Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Guest Author · March 30, 2014

HE INCIDENT in today’s Gospel about the man being blind from birth reminds me of one of the first courses we studied when we began our four years of theology in Oldenburg, IN. The course was called ‘Apologetics’ and was taught by Fr. Lambert Brockman, OFM a Franciscan who was one of the wisest men I ever met. I make a distinction here between being wise and being knowledgeable. He had insights that showed real wisdom, which had to be a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Briefly stated the study of Apologetics was a branch of Christian theology which attempts to give a rational defense to the Christian Faith. It may be summed up by saying that Christ claimed He was God; Christ proved the truth of His statement by the miracles that He worked. Therefore what Christ said was true. The Catholic Church is the only Church that can trace its origins back to the time of Christ. Therefore the Catholic Church is the Church which Christ founded. Needless to say this is a simplified version of what we studied in this course.

Fr. Lambert particularly liked the miracle in today’s Gospel because it showed our Lord’s enemies trying to disprove its super-naturalness. They went from one ridiculous position to another. First they tried to say, “Well, maybe this man wasn’t really blind from birth after all.” And so they go and ask him if he is the one who was blind from birth, or was it maybe someone else. And he assures them that he is the one. And that it was this man named Jesus who cured him. And so they go to the parents. The parents have the same story, namely, that he is their son and that he was blind from birth. But they are starting to get somewhat nervous in all of this. They know that the Pharisees don’t like Jesus and are out to get Him. They don’t want to get in trouble with them either. And so, they try to ease out of the situation by saying, “well, he’s our son alright. But he’s old enough. Ask him.” Already the community had agreed that if anyone said Jesus was a prophet they would be expelled from the synagogue or ostracized.

What we have in the Pharisees is simply refusal to believe. Their minds were made up. They had no use for this Jesus and they were out to get him. But let’s face it. Our concentration should not be on what other people did or are doing now. They were certainly suffering from what spiritual writers call ‘spiritual blindness’. Now the question should be: “Are there any areas in my life where I am suffering from spiritual blindness?” Another way of asking this would be: Are there any areas where I am rationalizing, that is, trying to justify something I am doing that is wrong, but trying to tell myself it is alright? And we might give this just a little different tweak by saying, “Is there something more I could be doing, but am not?” Think of your final judgment day. Would there be some things that you would wish you had done that you haven’t done? As I have said before: “You are going to get a lot more in eternity for a Holy Hour spent in Church than you are going to get for an hour spent in watching television.” It is somewhat of a spiritual blindness which keeps us from seeing things in this way.

In the Epistle Reading St. Paul tells the Ephesians that they were once darkness, but now they are children of light. Light produces every kind of goodness, righteousness and truth. A simple way of saying this would be to say, if we truly see we will clearly see what is the next right thing to do and will do it. In my opinion that is doing the will of God.


We hope you enjoyed this homily by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“Vatican II did not say anything about the direction of the celebrant. […] I love both directions of celebrating Mass. Both are full of meaning for me. Both help me to encounter Christ—and that is, after all, the purpose of the liturgy.”

— Christoph Cardinal Schönborn (February 2007)

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