Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent

From St. Monica Catholic Church by Father Stephen Hamilton

March 16, 2026

About this episode

This episode discusses the themes of darkness and light in the context of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, emphasizing the journey of faith and the need for spiritual renewal.

Dominica IV in Quadragesima A 15 March 2026  This weekend’s shift to a lighter liturgical color fits well with the prominent scriptural themes of darkness versus light and blindness versus sight. The Gospel passages in late Lent raise themes of recognizing our deeper thirst for meaning and for deeper life, the life of the soul (like the woman of Samaria thirsting at the well last Sunday). There is this Sunday’s theme of darkness to light, meaning the journey of faith from the darkness of godlessness to re-creation in the Lord accomplished principally by faith and baptism. There is an application of blindness versus sight when we recognize the darkness of our ongoing struggle with sin and the need to be washed and renewed by the Lord in confession. And next Sunday’s passage on the raising of Lazarus from the dead gives us the theme of illness versus death, highlighting that even physical, bodily death is temporary when compared to the spiritual illness and death that is eternal. In that passage Jesus reveals himself, and the life he gives, as the very resurrection itself, a life that never ends. The Scriptures today call each of us to admit our need for purification of our…

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Scriptures, the Book of Genesis, Genesis, Gn. 2:6

Places: Samaria

More episodes of St. Monica Catholic Church

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the St. Monica Catholic Church podcast page.