HOMILY FOR FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR A, (LAETARE SUNDAY) 19TH MARCH, 2023

Readings: 1Sam. 16:1.6-7.10-13; Ps. 23; Eph. 5:8-14; John 9:1-41

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

THE JOURNEY FROM DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD TO THE LIGHT OF FAITH IN GOD’S LOVE AND HOPE

 

Every fourth Sunday of Lent we celebrate Laetare Sunday, the  only Sunday we are called to Rejoice during this Lenten season. It is a special Sunday when we have a brief pause on the penitential nature of the Lenten season to focus more on the joyful expectation of the glorious coming of Easter celebrations.

 

Hence we are called to focus our attention on the joy of Easter in order to help keep our faith focused in the right direction, knowing that we are in God’s good hands despite whatever challenges we may be facing now, especially the ugly situation in our country today. What is needed is a growing faith that will lead us to the light of God’s presence.

 

Little wonder the themes of light and faith are seen in our three readings today. In our first reading we heard the story of the anointing of the new king of Israel, in which God had decided to choose one of the sons of Jesse. Here Samuel was presented with the seven sons of Jesse. And initially when he saw that the eldest son was looking good in stature and appearance, he thought he was the chosen one but God told Samuel, take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him: God does not see as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.

 

Telling us that journeying through the dark appearance of the things of this passing world, we need the light of God’s wisdom in order to make right judgment. And with this light of wisdom, David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, a simple and young shepherd, was chosen and anointed as king of Israel.

 

In the same vain, St Paul in our second reading, reminded the Church and the faithful in Ephesus as he does the same to us today, that we ought to become children of light at all times. Telling us that, we once belonged to the darkness of the things of this passing world. But now through God, we belong to the light, and we ought to act in the manner that befits follower of God’s light. For God is our guide and Shepherd, just as the responsorial Psalm today reminds us that God is leading us as our Shepherd to the good and righteous path of His glorious light through our faith in Him.

 

This journey of faith through the glorious light of God’s presence is what we heard in our Gospel passage today, in the great story of how the Lord Jesus healed a man who had been born blind, and suffered from that blindness for so many decades. Yet, through his faith in the power of the Lord, he was healed completely, his eyes opened and his sight restored, a great miracle occurred, but this was protested and contested by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

 

Here we see how the blind man was healed by Jesus and he could see again, yet, the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Law having been consumed by the darkness of pride and jealousy, could not believe that the blind man had been healed because this was done on the Sabbath day which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law vigorously defended as a day on which nothing including good deeds could be done.

 

In order to get at Jesus and accused him of breaking the laws of Sabbath, they gathered the people and conducted a trial over the blind man, as they doubted that he had been healed by Jesus. And they even doubted that he had been born blind or blind at all. And they kept on asking the blind man for the details of his healing. For they repeatedly showed that they still do not believe that Jesus could have healed the blind man. To them, Jesus was a sinner because he did not follow  their way of observing the Law, and a sinner could not have healed another person.

 

It was at this point that the blind man demonstrated his growing faith in Jesus. The man’s journey from blindness to sight symbolizes the journey from unbelief to belief and faith, which is a journey from darkness of this passing world to light of God's love and hope. Here we see a gradual progression in the man’s faith and understanding of the personality of Jesus.

 

At first when they asked him about Jesus he called him ‘a man' (The man called Jesus’ he answered), then, again he called him a prophet (He is a prophet’ replied the man) and the more they asked him to defend himself the more his faith and understanding of Jesus grows at the peak of the story the blind man called Jesus ' Lord' (The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him). So while the blind man grows in the light of faith the Pharisees become more and more spiritually blind as the  darkness of pride and  jealousy could not let them accept the great works of Jesus.

 

Dear friends, we must learn to journey from the darkness of this passing world to God through Christ the light of our faith. So, if we want to grow in faith, we must pay attention to our ugly attitude of pride and jealousy that prevent so many of us from embracing the grace of God and acknowledging his power to heal and restore us from physical and spiritual blindness.

 

Therefore, in this holy season of Lent, we are called to let go the path of pride, selfishness and hard-heartedness that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had, which made them to be ‘spiritually blind’. For they were ignorant of the truth of God even when they had seen and witnessed it themselves. Instead, let us embrace the path of humility that is rooted in the light of faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to let every moment of difficulties and trials lead us to grow in faith and knowledge of God through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

 

 LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as the world especially our country Nigeria cries out to you in this moment of trials caused by bad leaders, may the world experience once again your intervention and so elect good and faithful leaders in our families, societies and in our country  through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have grace filled Sunday.