Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

 Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year, A (Laetare Sunday) – March 26, 2017

Readings: 1 Sam 16:1b,6-7,10-13a; Responsorial Psalm Ps 23:1-3a.3b-4.5.6(R.1); Eph. 5:8-14; Gospel Jn 9:1-14 OR Jn 9:1.6-9.13-17.34-38.

Theme: Rejoice, because God Chooses the Weak, to Shame the Strong!

Friends in Christ, today is Laetare or Rejoice Sunday. The fourth Sunday of Lent is referred to as Laetare Sunday because the Latin words of the Introit “Laetare Jerusalem” (Rejoice, O Jerusalem) from Isaiah 66:10 appears in the entrance antiphon at Mass in the Western Christian Liturgical Calendar. As we continue our annual Lenten Observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, the Church bids us rejoice because our redemption is near.

Laetare Sunday is considered as a day of relaxation from the normal rigors of Lent as Easter is insight. Traditionally, weddings which are usually discouraged during the period of Lent are performed on Laetare Sunday. To further authenticate “Rejoice Sunday,” servants were released from their Master’s Service to visit their mothers which is why in some Churches, Mothering Sunday is held on this day. 

The theme of joy connects with the first reading (1 Sam 16:1b,6-7,10-13a)  which recounts how God shows preference for the youngest son of Jesse, David amidst his siblings. The favour God shows David is also demonstrated in the lives of the Israelites who despite being a small nation, enjoy divine blessings to the dismay of the Egyptians and Babylonians (Deut 7:7-8). One lesson we can quickly learn from this is that God has a way of making small things great.

To put him on the lane of happiness, Jesus turns the darkness of lack of sight suffered by the blind man in the gospel (Jn 9:1-14) into a life-changing experience. By giving him sight, Jesus changed his mourning into rejoicing. To appreciate the narrative, we must realize the various stages the man went through to appropriate the blessings of God in his life.

Notice that Bartemaeus first addressed Jesus as “the man” (Vs11); then he called him “Prophet” (Vs17); and “man of God” (Vs33) before finally calling Him “Lord” (Vs38). – As a testimony that he has now found cure for his ailment and also salvation for his soul, the blind man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he “worshipped Him.’ (Vs38). This means that his faith grew from the ordinary to the extraordinary. This was possible because he knew what he wanted and he went for it believing that he would get it; also, he knew he was a no-body but the man he was with was going to make him whole again. This shows that until we are nothing, God cannot make anything out of us.

Often times we complain that we are sinners, worthless and weak; this complain graduates to self-pity and a complacent spiritual life. All that God wants of us is to approach him with our physical and spiritual blindness. We must realize that there is no successful person in the world who is perfect or had it all smooth. At some point, they were nothing but God shaped them to who they are today. Consider the lives of these individuals whose story I copied from a friend:          

Ø  Noah was a drunk

Ø  Abraham was too old

Ø   Isaac was a day dreamer

Ø   Jacob was a liar

Ø   Leah was ugly

Ø   Joseph was abused

Ø   Moses had a stuttering problem

Ø  Pharaoh was a Problem

Ø   Gideon was afraid

Ø   Samson had long hair and was a womanizer

Ø   Rahab was a prostitute

Ø   Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

Ø   David slept was an adulterer affair and a murderer

Ø  Elijah was a Suicide

Ø   Isaiah preached naked

Ø  Jonah ran from God

Ø   Naomi was a widow

Ø   Job went bankrupt

Ø   Peter denied Christ

Ø   The disciples felt asleep while praying

Ø   Martha worried about everything

Ø   Mary Magdalene was a professional prostitute

Ø   The Samaritan woman was divorced more than five times

Ø   Zaccheus  was too small

Ø   Paul was too religious

Ø   Timothy Had an ulcer

Ø   And Lazarus died

Ø  Our blind friend in the Gospel became a theologian.

In all these, we must realize that “God does not see as human beings see; humans look at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam.16:7). This goes to show that God uses the weak and the lowly to shame the strong. It demonstrates how God keeps calling sinners to sanctify themselves and the world. It shows that even in your weakness, God can use you - “when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:10). 

God chooses the weak to shame the strong; He does not call the qualified but qualifies the called; He does not call the fit, he fits the called. We should say: “I thank God that he can use a sinner like me to sanctity others through his Gospel of paradoxes - a redeeming “good news” which is so often shunned as an annoyance.” The gospel is indeed the way to true freedom which is sadly derided as captivity. 

We must learn from the blind man who was not discouraged by his condition. Do not allow anything to prevent you from reaching your destiny. God has painted a portrait of your life. He knows every detail of your future. The test, trials and tribulations of your life are purposed by God so that you may achieve your divine potential. His blindness, Jesus had said, was for God’s glory and so will our failures be.

As someone would say: They saw your past, they have not seen your future; they saw your failure, they have not seen your success; they saw your tears, they have not seen your laughter; they saw your sorrow, they have not seen your joy; they saw your accident, they have not seen your recovery; they have seen your weakness, they are yet to see your strength; they have seen you sick, they will see you well again; they have seen you down, you shall rise again. Rejoice because God chooses the weak to shame the strong. Have a terrific week!