Fr. Augustine Inwang, MSP - March 22, 2020. Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent year A

Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41

Who Sinned?

This is extraordinary time indeed! Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare Sunday. Public Mass is not celebrated with parishioners in attendance today. We are still in lockdown, keeping social distancing, to slow down the spread of coronavirus pandemic. At this Mass celebrated for you, my parishioners, without your physical presence, I can see your faces, I know where you sit. I can call your names during my reflection. I know those who will laugh at my jokes and those who would not get it right-a-way. I can see those taking down notes and those nodding their heads and those who are not. Since you are not physically present, I am only left with my imagination. Know that you are always in my mind and prayers. I miss you a bunch! 

Coronavirus has entered our lives and changed the way we live, the way we interact, and the way we love. Who sinned? The other day I went grocery shopping, I was surprised that, there was no bread, water, banana, milk, toilet paper and eggs on the shelf. Panic buyers had bought more than they needed and cleared the counter so that the rest of us had nothing left. The basic things needed by all were bought by a few. Who sinned? The virus has made us greedy, selfish, lonely, and forget one another. Who sinned? When faced with national disaster, natural disaster, sickness and devastation, we ask: who sinned? We are quick to find faults and point accusing finger. But are we asking the right question? Christ reminds us that our thoughts should go beyond the one who sinned. “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Lk. 13:4-5).

So, 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 serious disasters, such as coronavirus, our question should not be ‘Who sinned?’ we should rather open our eyes to see how the glory of God would be made manifest. The readings of today point us away from darkness of sin to Christ the light of the world, as seen in the cure of the man born blind. Christ came into the world to drive away the darkness that envelopes us, so that we may be bathed in his light. May be we have been too complacent to the extent that we cannot 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 that of 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 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 that 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 is able and capable of healing our blindness. He can raise us from obscurity to greater heights, as he did for David in the first reading. Christ came to cure our blindness, physical, moral or spiritual. But we must go to him. This, again is the process of coming to faith in Christ. Before Baptism, we were in darkness but after baptism, we are washed in the water of rebirth and anointed, like David, and raised to the exalted position of king. Our understanding and knowledge of Jesus must grow exponentially, like the man born blind, from seeing Christ simply as a man (the man called Jesus made a clay and anointed my eyes.), to a prophet (He is a prophet.”), and finally Lord (“I do believe, Lord”).  

Being a disciple of Jesus may cost us everything. The blind man had to surmount many social difficulties. He endured insults, abuses, ex-communication and abandonment by his parents. But he had a simple faith: he obeyed Jesus. He went to the pool and washed his eyes. His obedience was rewarded with the gift of sight, a symbol of his faith. He was able to confront the powers that be: “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 what 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 not be able to do anything.” The man with his newfound faith is now a disciple of Jesus. This is what we are called to do during this fourth Sunday of Lent as we move towards Easter.

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 find it easy to 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 the works of God might be made visible through us. Amen!  

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - March 22, 2020. Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent year A

Homily of Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A

In the first reading, Samuel, in a way, was blind as to who God was going to choose to replace Saul as the king of Israel. God guided him until he anointed David. If not by God’s guidance, Samuel would have made a wrong choice. I believe that this passage teaches us a few lessons. (1) Appearance can be deceptive. Initial impressions and thoughts are not always right. We must not make judgements and conclusions, quickly based in appearance, initial impressions, and thoughts. Sometimes, there is more than meets the eye. Sometimes, what we see is the tip of the iceberg. What is on the surface can be illusive.  It is important to spend quality time in discernment and prayer before decisions are made. It is important to listen attentively to God and follow his guidance. However, spending quality time in discernment and prayer before decisions are made does not encourage prolonged indecision and procrastination.  (2) Samuel did not depend on what was presented to him. He made inquiry: ‘“Are these all the sons you have?’ Jesse replied, ‘There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.’ Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he arrives here.”’ We must not be afraid or reluctant or mesmerized or carried away to ask valid questions which may help us to a better understanding and help to unravel the truth. My dad, God rest his soul, used to tell me, "Son, do not call a mirage a river until you get to it.” (3) Someone says, “Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.” David was the last key in a bunch of eight keys that opened the lock. (4) Jesse never imagined that the youngest of his sons could be considered for such an exulted position. Let us not underestimate what God can do through anyone or in the life of anyone. (5) Samuel reminds us that our Omniscient God knows what is in the heart of each one of us. We can deceive our fellow human beings but we cannot deceive God. (6) No one can claim with certitude what is a person’s heart. Therefore, we must be careful to claim to know what people are thinking or what people are going to do. One may end up with wrong and unfair judgements.

We pray for those who by the nature of their call or work have to make judgements on others that they may be open to the wisdom and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We, pray, too for all of us that we may cooperate with promptings of the Holy Spirit who directs us to the right way during our various valleys of decision.

In the Gospel we see the physical blind man healed by Jesus and spiritual blind Jews who refused to see God’s wonderful work in Jesus, and do not recognize that Jesus came from God. The blind man who received his sight recognized Jesus as Lord and prophet, and worshipped him. The Jews, on the other hand, were unrepentant and did not believe in Jesus. They remained spiritually blind.

While physical blindness is when a person is unable to see due to the corruption of the eye by some disease or deformity, spiritual blindness is when a person, due the corruption of the mind, loses sight of the truth. The person is spiritually in darkness.

Sometimes, we are spiritually blind to right judgement and focus our attention on appearance alone as Samuel did. Sometimes, we are spiritually blind to the truth and wonderful work of God in others like the Jews. Sometimes we are spiritually blind to God’s presence and new possibilities like the Jews.

In one way or another, all of us have some degree of spiritual blindness. In this fourth week of Lent, St. Paul encourages us in the second reading to wake up from blindness and darkness and receive the light of Christ. St. Paul encourages us to “Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

We pray for all spiritually blind religious and civil rulers, leaders, and guides whose spiritual blindness has brought suffering and death to our world. May they be delivered from their blindness. Amen.

Jesus, you are the light of the world. Each of us is burdened by all kinds of blindness. Heal us as you healed the blind man in the Gospel. May your word come true in us, “Neither [us] nor [our] parents have sinned; it is so that the work of God might be made visible through [us].” Thank you Jesus because we believe that by your power, the work of God will be made visible through us and in us. Amen and Amen.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Augustine Inwang, MSP - March 15, 2020. Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent year A

Readings: Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2,5-8; John 4:5-42

Jesus and the Woman at the Well.

“Image is nothing. Thirst is everything. Obey your thirst!” This is a TV marketing campaign on Sprite. The ad calls us to drink to our fill, the sugared-up fizzy, lemon-lime beverage that, frankly speaking, is capable of killing us. Scientists warned in 2015, that fizzy drinks caused a death toll of 184,000 adults per year. Today’s readings speak of water and how important it is for life. The human adult body has up to 60% of water. According H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water; the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are 31% water. This explains why water is so important to us. The lack of it can cause death through dehydration. We need water for so many other things besides. The book of Exodus today relates how the children of Israel were disgruntled over their lack of water and how Yahweh heard their groaning and provided fresh water for them. Their ingratitude was met with God’s generosity in keeping to his promise. He chose them to be his own and he will always stand by them. As a reminder of their constant nagging and forgetfulness of God’s mercy and generosity, Yahweh called that place Massah, meaning testing place, and Meribah, meaning a place of quarrel.

In today’s Gospel from John, we see Jesus with a woman at the well in the heat of the afternoon. Jesus was tired and hungry from his journey. He sat at the well to rest and wait for his disciples who had gone shopping in the city. And there came the Samaritan woman. For obvious reasons, she went to the well in the afternoon to fetch water. Women usually go to the well in the morning and evening. She went in the afternoon, perhaps, to avoid meeting with other women; could be because of her life style. She may have been an object of gossip and ridicule in the city, as such, she tried to avoid other women as much as possible.

The Samaritan woman may have gone through a lot in her life and so was thirsty – not for water, but acceptance, love, meaning and happiness. She was lonely and tried to obey her thirst for anything. The men in her life did not satiate her thirst, she has had five already and the 6^th one was not her real husband. She tried to hide that fact from Jesus: “I do not have a husband.” She was a lost soul, but a very interesting one at that. She was suspicious of Jesus and his request for water, but she was prepared to engage Him all the same. She brought up issues of concern to her, even the racial and spiritual ones: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” She challenged Jesus’ assumptions: “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?” She confronted Jesus’ claim and questioned his authority: “Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flock?” She called Jesus’s bluff: “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” She stood up to Jesus on religious matters and put him on the defensive: “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” At last, she capitulated after learning from Jesus; she showed that, though her moral life may not mean much, her religious knowledge was flawless, she was not without hope: “I know that they Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” When she heard that Jesus was the expected Messiah, she forgot what brought her to the well in the first place, she has now received the water of life: “the woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?”” She seemed to have said with the Psalmist: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God.” (Ps. 42:2-3). She had a steady and progressive understanding of Jesus, from ‘Sir’, to ‘Prophet’ and finally to ‘Messiah’. she is now a disciple and ready to spread the good news of salvation. She is no more ashamed of being seen in public but was ready to face her future, knowing that the Messiah was on her side.

The encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well mirrors a process of coming to faith, underscored by the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). The Samaritan woman was predisposed to receive the message of salvation; Jesus created enabling environment to bring that about. Today is first Scrutiny for those preparing to receive the Sacrament of initiation at Easter. The readings present us with the background that opens us to the Sacrament of Baptism. “Lent provides believers the opportunity to review their baptismal commitment. The Church community is making this Lenten pilgrimage alongside those preparing for reception into the faith. The waters used in their induction are the actual living waters Jesus shared with the now happy woman at the well.” (The Priest Magazine, pg. 51)  

Like the woman at the well, we are to be thirsty for the living water. May we come close to Jesus, listen to his words, receive him in the Eucharist and allow him to refresh us with the water of life in the sacrament of reconciliation. Though Moses struck the rock and water flowed for the children of Israel to drink, they were thirsty again. They failed to see the God who journeyed with them, every step of the way. They would soon find fault and grumble against God again and again.  May we not be quick to satisfy our thirst with anything and everything. It is not everything that will satisfy us. Like the woman at the well discovered, Jesus will always fill us with abundance, so that we will never be thirsty again. We must trust Jesus. Our thirst can only be satisfied by God. St. Augustine knew this when he said: “Our hearts are made for God, and they will not rest, until they rest in God.” Yes, our human hearts have spiritual thirst and we must satisfy them with spiritual food. The Samaritan woman was thirsty for love, understanding, peace, joy and community and she found all these in Jesus. “We are thirsty for joy, and happiness, and the greatest joy can only come from the freedom that Jesus gives us – freedom from fear, worry, anxiety.” (Ignite Your Spirit by Fr. John Pichappilly).  

Let us listen again to the words Jesus said to the woman at the well: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Let me conclude with the prayer of the first scrutiny:

“All-merciful Father, through your Son you revealed your mercy to the woman of Samaria; and moved by that same care have offered salvation to all sinners. Free us from the slavery of sin, and for Satan’s crushing yoke exchange the gentle yoke of Jesus. Protect us in every danger, that we may serve you faithfully in peace and joy and render you thanks for ever. Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP