Readings: 2 Chr. 36:14-16; Eph. 2:4-10; Jn. 3:14-21
The unconditional Love of God
Who can lay claims on God’s love? Does anyone deserve God’s love? “If you, Lord, mark our sins, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered.” (Ps.130:3-4). St. Paul reminds us in the second reading: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ.” (Eph. 2:4-7). Adam and Eve disobeyed and abandoned God’s covenant. As St. Paul writes, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). Sin entered the world due to the manipulation of Satan and caused such ripple effects that Brother revolted against Brother and killed him. This is how Jeremiah describes the heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9).
The world was in a terrible mess of sin and depravity when God sent his Son. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16). Many people do not believe that God cares about the world or even loves humanity. I once asked a couple preparing for the sacrament of marriage if they intended to have children. Their answer was in the negative. They reasoned that they would not bring a child into this messed-up world. They felt that God had departed from the world and that there was nothing good in it anymore. It is easy to find fault with the world in its present corruption and decay. If we are to be a little dramatic, we may even say that God does not care. Why not? Our world is such a corrupt, dangerous, and sinful place. We hear in the News every day about war and insurrection in nations of the world. There is hunger, greed, deceit, betrayal, abortion, infidelity, broken families, murder, accident, sickness, death, riots, revolts, and police brutality everywhere. Our world is not different from that of the first reading, where “All the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.” (2 Chr. 36: 14). Don’t you feel like shouting, stop the world, and let me out!
And yet, those disappointed with the world and her creator are told: “For God so loved the world,” not only that God loves the world, He gave his beloved Son, not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through him. I am sure God knows that humanity has abused his gift of free will. God knows that we tend to put ourselves first in everything and are self-centered, egoistic, and manipulative. He knows that we lie, cheat, and hate. We are the reason for the ugly state of our world. God could have destroyed us and formed a new people if he so wished, yet he said, “With age-old love, I have loved you; I have kept my mercy toward you. I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt.” (Jer. 31:3-4). The author of the book of Wisdom addresses God thus, “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing you have made; for what you hated; you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; but you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord, and lover of souls.” (Wisdom 11:24-26).
God insists that the world is loveable and should be saved by no other person than his only Son. Instead of destroying the world, His Son would give his life on the cross as a ransom for many so as “to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” (Jn. 11:52). Just like God used the pagan king Cyrus of Persia to set the children Israel free from bondage and enabled them to restore the temple in Jerusalem, He now sends his Son, out of love, to sacrifice his life, out of love, to redeem us from damnation and ensure that we have abundance life of grace with him. “I came so that they might have life and have it abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10).
So, dear friends, on this fourth Sunday of Lent, let us resolve to love the world because God loves humanity. Instead of causing darkness, let us bring about light and make that light shine for all to see. Pray that the world may be a better place beginning with you. Stop blaming God for the ills of the world and see your role in creating a messed-up world so that we may be part of the cleaning process. Lent is about acknowledging our need for God and deepening our relationship with God and others. We do this through a committed life of prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and abstinence. Since nothing is impossible for God to do, let us open our minds and hearts to God and celebrate his presence and goodness even amid sin. For “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:20-21). Amen.
Fourth Sunday of Lent; Year (A) March 10, 2024
Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
(For 2nd Scrutiny)
Who Sinned?
To the question: “Who sinned?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” In the face of severe disasters and social upheaval, our question should not be ‘Who sinned?’ Instead, we should open our eyes to see how the glory of God would be made manifest. Today’s gospel reading points us away from the darkness of sin to Christ, the light of the world, as seen in the cure of the blind man. Christ came to drive away the darkness that envelopes us so we may be bathed in his light. We have been too complacent to the extent that we do not see Christ in our midst. We must, therefore, open our eyes and wake from our spiritual blindness so that Christ may shine forth in our lives. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth… awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
We are all blind in one way or the other. Our blindness may be physical, moral, or spiritual. Physical blindness, like the man born blind, may be our inability to see with our eyes. But that does not mean the blind person is disabled. When we are deprived of one sense, like sight, touch, smell, taste, or hearing, other senses are heightened and enabled to fill in for the lost one. We can be morally blind when we cannot see our defects or when we are in denial of them. Spiritual blindness may be caused by an inability to see Jesus in our lives due to ignorance, hatred, anger, superstition, or cynicism. Today, Jesus cured the blind man of his physical and spiritual blindness. He also healed the blindness of those around him and convicted those who felt they could see. They were blind and refused to recognize Christ in their midst. They were blinded by their hatred of Jesus and projected that hatred to the man now healed of his blindness.
God’s healing power is not just curative but transformative. It can elevate us from the depths of obscurity to the heights of greatness, as we see in the story of David in the first reading. Christ’s mission is not just to heal our blindness, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, but to transform us into his disciples. However, this transformation requires our active participation. The journey to faith in Christ involves acknowledging our faults and the desire for healing. Before baptism, we were in darkness, but after baptism, we were cleansed in the water of rebirth and anointed, like David, and elevated to the esteemed position of king. We hope that our Elect will gain the same understanding of Christ. We pray that their perception and knowledge of Jesus will expand, like the man born blind, from perceiving Christ simply as a man (“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes.”) to recognize him as a prophet (“He is a prophet.”), and finally acknowledging him as Lord (“I do believe, Lord”).
Being a disciple of Jesus often requires great sacrifice. The blind man had to overcome numerous social obstacles. He endured insults, abuse, ex-communication, and even abandonment by his parents. Yet, he possessed a simple yet profound faith: he obeyed Jesus. He went to the pool and washed his eyes. His obedience was rewarded with the gift of sight, a testament to his faith. He boldly confronted the authorities: “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind, and now I see. I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” “This is so amazing that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would be unable to do anything.” The man, with his newfound faith, became a disciple of Jesus. We are urged to strengthen our faith in Jesus during this fourth Sunday of Lent as we approach Easter so that we, too, may become his disciples in both words and deeds.
The question for us today is: “Are we blind, or do we claim that we can see?” Christ warns: “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still blind.” If we refuse to acknowledge our shortcomings and open our eyes to see those in need around us, we condemn ourselves to darkness and deprive ourselves of the gift of faith and the light of Christ. Are we blind to our faults? Do we blame others and ask the question: “Who Sinned?” The greatest of our faults is to be conscious of none. The time is now to pick up our bible and read. Confession is still an option for Catholics. Let us learn to be less cynical but trust in the goodness of people. To do this is to recognize that Jesus is always in our midst. He wants to cure our blindness. The problems in our lives are never insurmountable for Jesus. It is not ‘who sinned?’ but so that God’s works might be visible through us. Amen!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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