HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT (LAETARE SUNDAY) YEAR A.

 

1 Samuel 16:1.6-7.10-13; Psalm 23:1-6; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41.

“THE CHOICES OF GOD”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today which is the 4^th Sunday of Lent is traditionally known as the “Laetare Sunday”. It is so called because the church wants us to rejoice because of the joyful anticipation of Easter. The fact that Easter is closest to us than when we started this Lenten journey, hence we must rejoice because our redemption is close at hand.

·      Today, more than ever, there are many reasons why we should actually be joyful. We should be joyful because God’s ways are not the ways of man and if men were God then maybe we would have all perished.

·      This is exactly what we see in the choice of God for David in the first reading (1 Samuel 16:1. 6-7.10-13) over the rest of his brothers. Humanly speaking, David fell short of the requirements to be King in Israel but here we see that while men look at physical appearance, God looks at the heart, hence the choice of David.

·      Dear friends in Christ, the choices of God are sometimes mysterious and funny but the truth is that God sees what men do not see. We must realise that from the choice of David that once the hand of God is upon you there is nothing that can change that.

·      David become the choice of God because he has been destined for greatness and he continued to cooperate with the will of God to bring about the fulfilment of that destiny.

·      My dear brothers and sisters, we too have been carefully chosen by God for greatness but the sad reality is that a lot of us find it difficult to cooperate with the will of God. We cannot be said to be doing the will of God if we continue to live in sin and recklessness.

·      This is exactly what the responsorial Psalm (Ps. 23:1-6), is trying to instill in us. That we will do bravely if we acknowledge God as our shepherd and we his sheep. As his sheep, if we listen to his voice and follow his commands then he will surely lead us to our destination.

·      Dearly beloved, it does not matter how obscure you have been, it does not matter how sinful you have been, it does not matter how your past has been, what is important is your future and where you go from here and the decisions you make from today.

·      Remember that David was hidden in the pasture and yet the hand of God located him and anointed him for greatness. The second reading (Ephesians 5:8-14), tells us that we were once in darkness and now we have been brought light hence, we must live like children of Light. To live as children of light means obeying his commandments and avoiding sin.

·      For how long shall we continue to dwell in sin? For how long shall we continue to resist the voice of God calling us to repentance? For how long shall we continue to live in regret as the aftermath of sin? We must make the decision to repent now before it is too late because “the things that are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of, but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into the light” (Eph. 5:12-14).

·      Our various inclination to sin must have made us really weak, our ability to resist and say “NO” to sin must have been crippled. We may desire to take the walk of faith to walk out of sin and enter into God’s wonderful light but the sooner we decided that, the deeper we get into sin.

·      The Gospel reading (John 9:1-41), offers us hope that Jesus is passing our way today and he will lift us up, he will heal us, cleanse us, and will restore us again to our original innocence so that we can become his choicest choice again.

·      Dear friends in Christ, you are still a wonderful choice of God, God wants to use you to achieve great things if only you let him. You may have been blinded by sin, blinded by work, blinded by wealth, blinded by friends, blinded by influence, blinded by family etc. let your encounter with Jesus today at this mass become a life-changing experience for you. May he heal you of all blindness and make you again the choice after his heart.

·      Jesus said to the blind man “go and wash in the Pool of Siloam” (John 9:7), and his sight was restored so that he can see the light of God. Today he is also saying to us who have been blinded by sin to go and wash at the sacrament of penance so that we can be renewed and restored to wholeness again.

·      Dear friends in Christ, the God we serve is a God who breaks human protocol for our sake. In the first reading, his choice was against human expectation and in the gospel reading, he broke the Sabbath protocol to restore the blind from darkness into light, from death to life. If we too, surrender to his will, be rest assured too that protocols are already being broken for your sake.

·      May God give us the grace to repent of our sinful passions and inclinations so that we can become wonderful choices of God and enter into his blessing, testimony, and wonderful light through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!