Homily Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Jos 5: 9a, 10-12;
·
Ps 34:2-7;
·
2 Cor 5:17-21
·
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Gifts of our
Mothers, Land, Repentance and Joy!
The Entrance antiphon of today’s Liturgy sets the tone
for what we come to celebrate today, namely, in Latin, Laetere Sunday,
meaning a joyful or joyous Sunday. This antiphon is from the Prophet Isaiah
66:10-11, third Isaiah, which says ‘Rejoice, Jerusalem, be glad for her…”. Why? Because the Lord has freed them from
exile. The land once taken away from them, the Israelites, has been restored! Joy
and Repentance have been restored? The temple has been rebuilt in 515 BC. What
a gifts. The gifts of the Land for the Israelites? The gift and the grace for repentance to the
prodigal Son? The grace to celebrate one another’ success by the father of the
prodigal son? What a gift! What have we that are not been provided us by the
Lord?
Everything is a gift in faith! Is it the gift of our
lives; the gift to smile, the gift of the oxygen we breathe, food, our
business, our families? Or is it the gift of our mothers; the gift of womanhood;
the gift of feminism, whom we are celebrating today in the Nigerian Church, in
our dioceses, and parishes! What would we do without our mothers, their
virtues, and the great socio-political, religious and economic roles many of
them have played throughout history?
Many of our women, and mothers, today are lawyers, nurses,
teachers, traders, housewives, service ladies, women in uniform, politicians,
doctors, engineers, farmers, traders, business women, artists, celebrities and
into sports etc., serving the society and the Church, and imitating, those
great women extol in the scriptures!
In the scriptures,
for example, we would like to think of
Miriam, in the Book of Exodus; think of Deborah in Judges; think of Hannah,
think of Naomi and Ruth, think of Rahab in the Book of Joshua; think of the
prophetess Huldah in Kings’ think of Judith and Esther? What about our Mother
Mary and Elizabeth, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene, What about Anna, in the
Gospel of Luke?
Many of us may still remember Mary Slazor, on how she
fought to abolish slavery and the killing of twins in this part of the world? We
have numerous women saints, married and unmarried, including Monica, Augustine’s
Mother, and Saint-Mother Teresa, too numerous to mention!
So today is all
joy, joy all the way, because of all that the Lord has done for us recorded,
especially in all the scriptural passages just read, including the giving of our
mothers and women as a whole to us!
In today’s Gospel, again, we see, the joy of the merciful
and forgiving father in the parable of the prodigal son, Luke 15, which teaches
us about God’s love and mercy. It
teaches us about how a good father, also mothers, would often joyfully and
affectionately celebrate the “homecoming” of their sons and daughters.
This Gospel celebration is a delight of many pastors and
preachers. It is very popular. It is, easy to communicate to children, young
and adult, and senior. It is widely use in reconciliation services and during
EWTN homilies. Each of us can relate to this Gospel parable, and to similar
parables in the Holy Scriptures.
Antecedence to this parable are not only parables
of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7) and the lost coin (vv 8-10) but the
particular critique of Jesus by the Pharisees, namely that Christ
welcomed sinners and tax collectors (vv 1-2). This critique prompted also the
parable of the prodigal son, in the first place.
Like the Pharisees most of the time we focus our energy
on criticizing our leaders in the society and in the church or every other
person around us except ourselves. Some of these criticisms might be justified
and sometimes they are not, like those of the Pharisees who did not like Christ
so much. Our personal weaknesses or prodigality are usually the last ones we
notice except with the grace of God. Like the prodigal son who was an heir
to the father we are all God’s children constantly asking, enjoying or
searching for our inheritance; searching for that gift. The gift of our
mothers, and virtues of kindness, affection, hard work, loving, feeling for,
sympathizing with, faithfulness, loyalty like Ruth to Naomi and her God!
In that first reading, we are constantly on the way like
the Israelite, with Moses and Joshua searching for that Promised Land (Josh
5:9a, 10-12). And like them, when we find the land; when the Lord provides the
land, we celebrate!
Think of the abundance of inheritance God has blessed us
with. And how often do we celebrate? In Genesis, 1:26, God made us in his own image.
We inherited our image from God, the gifts of all parts of our body; the gifts
of our senses and intelligence, the gifts of roof over our heads, our jobs,
positions of wealth and power, our families, healthy children, successful
marriages, and good friends and neighbors, especially our mothers. The fullness
of these blessings of course, is the attainment of the Kingdom of God, the
ultimate inheritance.
Like the prodigal son sometimes we are tempted to walk
away from our blessings and inheritance or use them wrongly; especially if we
spent our time, I mean we, fathers, and mothers, children quarreling, back
biting and gossiping against one another like some in the early Corinthian
Church. But there is always a joy when
we realize that we are on the wrong track and long to return to God, as the
prodigal son finally did. This U- turn is the source of our joy, and that
of Christ. Never mind what people might say, or complain of as the first son in
that Gospel did. Please, come back to Christ. Reconciled with Christ. This is
the message of Saint Paul in that Second reading. And Paul has been consistent
on this since the Ash Wednesday, when he said “this is favorable time to repent”!
For Paul, each of us no matter how long we had lost the land, or
friendship with our families, parents, fathers, mothers, children, can be
recreated; re converted, reconciled and be renewed in Christ the Son of
the Loving God and of the Forgiving Father. We can become a new creation
(2 Cor 5:17-21) and enter into a renewed relationship with God, who like the
father of the prodigal son, is joyfully waiting to receive us.
Let us on this day dispose ourselves to God’s gifts
of not only repentance and reconciliation
with the Lord, but joyfully appreciation the gifts of our mothers, of our lands, of all that God has provided us with,
including the gift to celebrate the “homecoming” of any of us who was once
lost.
Reflection Questions:
1.
How often do we stop to recognize that all
that we have, parents, fathers, mothers, children etc., are all a given from
the Lord?
2.
How often do we remember to celebrate
other people’ success and encourage others to do so?
3.
Is there any time in our life that we
tend to be jealous of one another like the first son in today’ Gospel?
4.
What prevents us from genuine
reconciliation with the Lord and our neighbors? And what have we done?
5.
How often do we respect our mothers and
women?
Homily [2] Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C:
Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Jos 5: 9a, 10-12;
·
Ps 34:2-7;
·
2 Cor 5:17-21
·
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Merciful, Loving and Forgiving God!
The Bible readings of today, particularly
the Gospel parable of the prodigal son reminds us, in this Year of Mercy, among
other things, who our God is: merciful, reconciling, kind, forgiving and
compassionate. God lavishes us with his love!
The more reason today’s Gospel, Luke
15 is a delight of many pastors and preachers and very popular. It is, easy to
communicate to children, young and adult, and seniors, especially during Lent.
It is widely use in reconciliation services and during EWTN homilies. Each of
us can relate to this Gospel parable, and to similar parables in the Holy
Scriptures.
For example the parable of the lost sheep
(Luke 15:1-7); and the parable of the lost coin (vv 8-10). It is also
worth noting that it was the particular critique of Jesus by the
Pharisees, namely that Christ welcomed sinners and tax collectors (vv 1-2) that
prompted the Gospel parable of the prodigal son.
Like such Pharisees most of the time
we focus our energy on criticizing our leaders in the society and in the church
or every other person around us except ourselves. Some of these criticisms
might be justified and sometimes they are not, like those of the Pharisees who
did not like Christ so much. Our personal weaknesses or prodigality are usually
the last ones we notice except with the grace of God.
Like the prodigal son who was an heir
to the father we are all God’s children constantly asking, enjoying or
searching for our inheritance and asking for forgiveness. We are
constantly on the way like the Israelite, with Moses in the book of
Exodus, and Joshua, in today's first reading, searching for that Promised
Land (Josh 5:9a, 10-12). These journeys, like our Lenten journey could be rough
and tumbling, but the merciful God is constantly watching over us. As we
journey through lent we must not forget the goodness of God, his love and
blessings in our prayers, in our Passovers, liturgies and worships!
During this lent we want to stop and think
of the abundance of inheritance God has blessed us with from creation. We
inherited our image from God, the gifts of all parts of our body; the gifts of
our senses and intelligence, the gifts of roof over our heads, our jobs,
positions of wealth and power, our families, healthy children, successful
marriages, and good friends and neighbors. The fullness of these blessings of
course is the attainment of the Kingdom of God, the ultimate inheritance.
Like the prodigal son sometimes we are
tempted to walk away from our blessings and inheritance or use them wrongly.
But there is always a joy when we realize that we are on the wrong track and
long to return to God, like the prodigal son finally did. This U- turn is
the source of our joy, and that of Christ echoed in today’s antiphon “rejoice,
Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning.” In other
words, never mind what people might say or complain of as did the first son,
we are invited during lent to come back to the newness of life in Christ.
For Paul, as stressed in that 2nd
reading, each of us depending on
how this Gospel speaks to us can be recreated; re converted, reconciled and be
renewed in Christ the Son of the Loving God and of the Forgiving Father.
We can become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17-21) and enter into a renewed
relationship with God, who like the father of the prodigal son, is joyfully
waiting to receive us as a merciful!
Therefore (in this year of mercy), we may
asked ourselves: Who in the past have offended us? Whom do you want to forgive
in your family, work place, school of neighborhood: a betrayed friend, spouse,
or a prodigal child?
When we forgive, recognize our prodigality; be less
jealous of one another, put our various inheritance to good use, God our
Father is ready for us with a new ring, a new rob and with a sumptuous
Passover feast ( Jos 5:9-12) of eternal life in Christ – at Easter. He is
a forgiving, gracious and merciful God!
Reflection Questions:
1.
How often do stop to recognize that all
that we have, parents, fathers, mothers, children etc., are all a given from
the Lord?
2.
How often do we remember to celebrate
other people’ success and encourage others to do so?
3.
Is there any time in our life that we
tend to be jealous of one another like the first son in today’ Gospel?
4.
In what form have we mercifully related
with our neighbors in recent months, days or years?
5.
What prevents us from genuine
reconciliation with the Lord and our neighbors? And what have we done?
6.
How often do we respect our mothers and
women?
