HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B (10)
HOMILY FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: A STEP OUT OF SIN
BY: Rev Fr Joseph Nyarko Asare
(Acts 3:13-15, 17-19/Ps 4/1Jn 2:1-5/Lk 24:35-48)
We continue the joy of the resurrection. We met the risen Lord seeking to reconnect to his community in the first week. Then we discovered the risen Lord extending his merciful love to both insiders and outsiders in the second week. Today, we meet the risen Lord inviting us to get out and make a bold step to sanctity and purity of life.
Like the Jews whom Peter confronts in the Temple, we see our unworthiness as we contemplate God’s love on the cross and his readiness to reconnect to us after his resurrection. We see our inadequacies, weaknesses and unworthiness. Naturally, we will be tempted to despair and give up. Perhaps, too, to have that fake sense of importance, we may persist in sinning and keep justifying our wrongs. Today, God speaks to us if we are in any of the two categories. God invites us to kill our pride, boldly move out of sin and embrace his loving kindness. We are invited to repent. We know we must not commit sin; but, more importantly, God does not want to see us with the scars and dirt of sin on us. Repentance makes us embrace his healing and cleansing; it is the solution to our weaknesses. We do ourselves great harm when we fail to repent in the face of this great invitation of God.
Our sense of unworthiness should not make us run from the Lord like Adam and Eve; the end would be disastrous for us and for our future generations. Like the prodigal son, Zaccheus, Levi or the women who wept at Jesus’ feet, let us arise and get back to the Father. Finally, for all who accept the message of the resurrection, Jesus calls us to make a public proclamation of this great love and kindness. In the name of Jesus, we must preach repentance and forgiveness of sin to all people in all ages and locations.
PRAYER POINTS
~Appreciation to God for his mercy and love
~For the courage to repent and embrace God’s sanctification
~That we will become missionaries of God’s mercy
(Rev Fr Joseph Nyarko Asare of the Catholic Diocese of Obuasi)
