YEAR A: HOMILY FOR 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT
HOMILY THEME: PRAY FOR THOSE GRAPPLING WITH THE PANDEMIC OF CORONAVIRUS
BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU
HOMILY: READINGS: 1SAMUEL 16:1b.6-7.10-13, PSALM 23, EPHESIANS 5:8-14, JOHN 9:1-41
Laetare Sunday is traditionally the fourth Sunday of Lent which comes up exactly 21 days before Easter. It is a day when the rigours of Lent are relaxed; a day of HOPE with Easter at last within sight. Flowers could be used at the altar, musical instruments could be played and the mood of great rejoicing activated. Laetare is derived from the Latin translation of Isaiah 66:10, “REJOICE with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in her joy all you who mourn over her.” Today therefore, we rejoice at the hope of Easter and not the gloom of Good Friday; we rejoice because our salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11).
Dearly beloved in Christ, we have every reason to rejoice because we are not a people without hope. In as much as, we suffer with Christ in his wilderness experience of forty days of hunger, thirst and lack this Lent; we SUFFER NOT TO BE VANQUISHED, we SUFFER TO CONQUER. As Christ conquered satan and went on to defeat death, so too we hope to go through this Lent successfully and having overcome our foes, journey with Christ to his Easter experience. This for me is reason enough to rejoice.
Moreover, we rejoice today because, Jesus the light that shines in the darkness and overcomes it (Jn. 1:5) is very much in our midst to heal the world’s blindness. Furthermore, we have every reason to rejoice for nothing is too difficult for our saviour to overcome. Today he heals a man born blind, a surprise to the Pharisees who said; “It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind” (Jn. 9:32). If we believe in the Son of Man, the pandemic of Coronavirus will be outdone; our long term ailments will heed treatment, our poverty will be vanquished, our insecurity as a nation and state would become a thing of the past; our dry moments in family life, business, farming, education and so on will receive the dawning of Christ’s light.
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More so, we rejoice today because God is still God, he never looks at us like men do. 1Samuel 16:1-13 captures the story of David’s choice as king of Israel who’d become the ancestor of Christ. We rejoice today knowing that our backgrounds, status and qualifications matter very little when God deals with us. He chooses us for whatever mission he intends, and qualifies us for same (Rom. 8:30). We pray today that the spirit of God comes mightily on us (as it came upon David), that so, our vocation as Christians would be one with focus.
As we rejoice because of our faith in Jesus, the light of the world, and being light in him ourselves (Eph. 5:8); may I challenge us walk in the light given us by Christ at our baptisms, strengthened by our confirmation and nourished by the Holy Eucharist. May I challenge us to go about our activities with one aim, to please God. May I exhort us never to be play along with works of darkness since we are not party to it. As we do all these, I pray Jesus, the light of the world to give us his light to enable us journey with clear vision towards eternity. Amen.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL…
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