HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT, LITURGICAL CALENDAR [YEAR B]
HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT, LITURGICAL CALENDAR [YEAR B]
THEME: The parable of the Prodigal Son.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
READINGS OF THE DAY
Micah 7:14-15,18-20
Psalm 102:1-4,9-12
Luke 15:1-3,11-32
LITURGICAL COLOUR
PURPLE/VIOLET
INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Saturday of the Second Week of Lent, Liturgical Calendar Year B.
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3RD SUNDAY HOMILY OF LENT [YEAR B]
FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard of the words of Micah speaking about God’s great love and mercy, and the prayers of the people which Micah made on behalf of them, asking the Lord to show them all His compassion, mercy and forgiveness, so that they might once again be His beloved people, guided, strengthened and led by His mighty hands, as He had done in the past. Micah was entrusted with the message and warnings from God to His people, telling all of them that if they continued with their sinful and wicked ways, then they would have to face the consequences of their wicked actions and way of life.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
We hear about three characters in todays gospel reading, the father and his two sons. One son was totally rebellious and the other son was dutiful. Yet, each son rejected the father, even if in very different ways. The rebellious son rejected his father by demanding his share of his inheritance before he was entitled to it and then wasting it in self-indulgent activity. The dutiful son rejected the father by refusing to join the celebration when his brother returned and by then addressing his father in tones that were full of self-pity and very judgemental of both his father and his younger brother. The father went out in love to both of his sons. He ran to his rebellious son when he saw him coming into view on the horizon; he then left the celebratory meal to go out to his dutiful son and to plead with him to come and join the feast.
CONCLUSION
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the characteristics of God in the Book of Micah apply perfectly to the father of the two sons in today’s Gospel. On the one hand, God the Father delights in clemency and has compassion on sinners; on the other, the father in the Gospel parable shows mercy and compassion toward both of his sons. He welcomes his prodigal younger son, runs toward him with open arms, and restores him to sonship. He leaves the feast to plead with his indignant older son to forgive his younger brother and enter into the feast to celebrate. Whether we have sinned like the younger son by our greed and sensuality or sinned like the older son by our pride and anger, God the Father is ready to welcome us back into his embrace and household. The return of the sinner is not a cause for judgment but for rejoicing. Even though it is difficult, we need to imitate our heavenly Father in his mercy and welcome our brothers and sisters back into God’s household with joy.
May the Lord, our most loving and forgiving Father, continue to be with us and guide us in our journey of faith towards Him, that we, His prodigal sons and daughters, may come back to Him with faith.
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