HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B (2)
HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
BY: Fr. Robert deLeon, CSC
Lent progresses and we ponder more deeply week by week the sacrifice of Jesus, God giving his Son up to death that we might have life. And no matter our experience of human love, still we stand mystified at the love God has for us. Because we are individually imperfect, our love for another will always remain just a bit imperfect, no matter how pure and selfless our intentions may seem to be. Human love may come very close to being “heaven on earth,” but it never quite makes it.
In the gospel passage we hear today, Jesus addresses Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
Truly, God wants the very best for us both in our present circumstances and in the eternal life to come, but how often we misread the divine intention when we compare God’s ways to our ways. How often we doubt God’s love for us when we attempt to frame divine love in images of human love. Sadly, I believe we’ll never fully appreciate the love of God while we walk in the flesh. It’s only at our own resurrection that such a mystery will be revealed. Let a true story, not human but equine, offer a reflection of God’s care for us.
“Just up the road from my home is a field with two horses in it. From a distance, each looks like every other horse. But if one stops the car or is walking by, one will notice something quite amazing. Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing. Listening, one will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, one will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her bridle is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is so he can follow her. As one stands and watches these two friends, one sees how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray.” (Original source unknown) Aren’t we, every one of us, just like that blind horse who must fumble his way through life, the sound of the bell on his friend’s neck his very salvation? And isn’t God’s faithful presence revealed in the vigilant companion, the smaller horse whose whereabouts is known by the tinkling of a bell whose sound reassures the blind horse?
Indeed, this simple tale is the story of God’s love for us. He has placed his own Son among us to guide us home, and when we are lost in life’s darkness, we quiet ourselves, listening for the sound of a reassuring whisper, “I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)
