HOMILY OF 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT (LAETARE SUNDAY) — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT (LAETARE SUNDAY) — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: SAVED BY GRACE
BY: Fr. Gerald Muoka
1 Sam 16:1b,6-7,10-13a/2 Eph 5:8-14/John 9:1-41
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see
This hymn tells the story of John Newton’s conversion from spiritual and moral blindness to a life of deeper faith in Christ. He was a former slave ship captain who made a fortune trading in human commodities, later found faith after surviving a severe storm at sea, and eventually became a clergyman. Encountering Jesus opened his eyes to acknowledge his spiritual and moral blindness, and he was saved by grace.
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In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus heals the man born blind. In John’s Gospel, the miracles of Jesus are called signs, pointing to deeper spiritual realities beyond what is physical or immediate. The healing of the man born blind reveals different kinds of blindness beyond physical blindness: moral and spiritual blindness. Moral blindness. Moral blindness is a state of hardened conscience or spiritual apathy where an individual becomes desensitized to sin, failing to distinguish good from evil. Whereas spiritual blindness is a state of hardened heart or soul that hinders recognition of God’s presence, truth, and salvation.
In the gospel, we see four groups of blind people, which would help us to identify our own blindness:
i. The apostles: they manifested their moral blindness through their insensitivity to think of how to help this man instead of asking Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Our insensitivity towards the plight of others constitutes moral blindness. It manifests when we choose to blame victims, “He is poor because he is lazy,” instead of helping them.
ii. The parents: For fear of the Jews, they couldn’t acknowledge and proclaim Jesus as the healer of their sons. They lacked moral courage. Here, fear, or lack of courage to profess and practice our faith in public, constitutes moral blindness.
iii. The Pharisees/Jews: they suffered both moral and spiritual blindness. Their spiritual blindness is seen in their hardness of heart that hindered them from recognizing Christ’s identity as the Messiah. We suffer spiritual blindness when we think we can live without Jesus. Life without Christ is in crisis.
iv. The blind man: his was only physical blindness. But he was spiritually and morally farsighted. He could see with the eyes of the heart. He believed and confessed Jesus as Messiah, which those with physical eyes couldn’t see. We can be spiritually and morally sensitive only when we recognize the need for Jesus in our lives and choose him over again and above all else.
Take Home Messages:
1. Appearance is deceptive. God is not deceived by physical looks. He looks at the heart. This is what played out in the choice of David in the first reading.
2. Never underestimate the power of God’s grace. It was grace that found David, the blind man, and even Paul. Work to activate this grace by asking Jesus to heal your blindness today.
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