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 4^th Sunday of Lent, Year A (Laetare Sunday): Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: Allowing Christ’s Light into the Darkness of Our Lives

Readings: 1 Sam 16:1, 6–13; Eph 5:8–14; Jn 9:1–41

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word meaning “to rejoice.” The Church takes this theme from the Entrance Antiphon of today’s liturgy, drawn from Isaiah 66:10–11: “Laetare Jerusalem”—“Rejoice, O Jerusalem… Be joyful, all who were mourning; exult and be satisfied.”

This Sunday marks the midpoint of Lent. The Church invites us, even in this penitential season, to rejoice with hope because we are drawing closer to the celebration of the great Paschal mystery through which Christ reconciled us to the Father. We rejoice in anticipation of the saving events of Easter, and at the same time we pause to reflect on how faithfully we have lived our Lenten commitments. The Church reminds us that those who suffer with Christ will also reign with Him in glory.

It is in this spirit of self-examination that the second reading, through the voice of St Paul, challenges us to wake up from spiritual sleep so that the light of Christ may shine upon us. St Paul says: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” He reminds us that we are children of light because God, through Christ, has freed us from the power of darkness and sin. Therefore, our actions and choices must be guided by the light of Christ. This light becomes evident in our lives when we do what is good, right, true, and pleasing to God, and when we shun all works of darkness. St Paul urges us to allow Christ’s light to penetrate the dark areas of our lives—our hidden weaknesses, addictions, and pride—so that we may be truly free.

The first reading shows how easily the human mind can make mistakes when it is not open to God’s wisdom – God’s light. Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel. When he saw Eliab, handsome and impressive, he thought he had found the chosen one. Left to human judgment alone, Samuel would have anointed the wrong person. But he opened himself to God’s guidance, and God enlightened him to make the right choice. The human mind is tainted by sin and will often make wrong decisions and judgment if it shuts God out.

God said to Samuel: “The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” This teaches us to give space to God’s direction when we make decisions. As human beings, our judgments are often clouded by imperfection, pride, and prejudice. We must therefore allow the Spirit of God to guide us with wisdom from above. Pride is one of the darkest spots in the human heart. It blinds us to the true good and leads us to choose wrongly. If Samuel had been proud, he would not have listened to God’s inner voice. This Lent, let us ask God to help us conquer pride in our decisions and actions, and to heal the blindness that pride causes.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals both the physical and spiritual blindness of the man born blind. At the same time, we witness the refusal of the Pharisees to be healed of their spiritual blindness because of pride. They believed they already knew everything about God and the Messiah. The man born blind opened himself to Christ and received not only physical sight but also spiritual insight, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. Meanwhile, the Pharisees—who had physical sight—remained spiritually blind because they rejected the light of God’s wisdom. Their pride even prevented them from feeling compassion for the suffering of their neighbour.

Modern-day Pharisees still exist. In their spiritual blindness, many refuse to accept the truth of God’s revelation or even acknowledge God’s existence. In their pride, they spread errors and accuse Christians of foolishness and childish credulity. Some even promote a return to forms of neo-paganism.

Dear friends, the Church invites us today to examine whether we have dark spots we hide from God’s light—areas of our lives that prefer darkness to light. These may include self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, addictions, or hardness of heart. Like the Pharisees, if we are spiritually blind, we will fail to notice the sorrows and struggles of those around us.

Our modern society is also filled with dark spots that many, believing they know better than God, refuse to expose to Christ’s light. Often these dark areas are defended under the guise of scientific progress. This is evident in the promotion of destructive practices such as embryonic stem-cell research, homosexual unions, transgender ideology, euthanasia, and human cloning. Those who promote these agendas resist every effort of the Church to shine the light of Christ on their actions. In their pride, they refuse to see the consequences of such godless behaviour on human life and society.

Today, let us pray that the light of God will penetrate the dark areas of our lives and of our society, so that we may be saved from choices and actions that lead to error and destruction.

Peace be with you.

Rev. Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima