Saint Paul writes in our second reading this weekend to the people of Ephesus, “Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” It’s a striking lesson. How often do we think about what is pleasing to God? What makes Him joyful? I think more often than not the attention is focused on us - what we need to do, how we need to do it - in order to be good Catholics.

The truth is, is that our lives are not our own. We belong to Him. The attention should be fixed on Him. Last weekend’s corner spoke about Jesus being fixated on Jerusalem and how we should be fixated on Jerusalem during Lent. This is one of the ways in which we please God - that during the Season of Lent we do not think about ourselves - but our attention turns to who we belong to and the words and actions of our Savior’s Passion. It’s not about us - it’s about Him.

The Gospel today finds Jesus, who just healed a man’s blindness, at the heart of a controversy with the Pharisees. They are so obsessed with the carrying out of THEIR laws (no work on the Sabbath) that they completely lose sight of the miraculous act of God in front of their eyes. So it can be with us - we can be swept up, in the busy world in which we live, in the things we need to do that we miss the miraculous blessings all around us everyday. But if we remind ourselves it’s not about us; if we remind ourselves that we please God when we live for Him; if we remind ourselves that by living for Him and through His passion that we please Him —- then we will be able to live truly holy, authentic lives.

May the Lord give you His peace,

Fr. Bob