by Fr Francis Anthony
1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
Psalm 22(23)
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Theme: Lord, Dispel My Darkness
If you are observant, during this Lenten Season, we use purple but today my vestment is not purple. We’re trying to have it a pink colour and the whole reason is today it is Rejoicing Sunday. We are rejoicing because God saves us and the opening words, we had a hymn, but in the Opening Hymn, our Antiphon it says:
Rejoice Jerusalem and all who love her.
And so it is rejoice and why is this for? Because God has saved us. And this is reflected in a very direct manner.
In the First Reading, Samuel was sent to anoint someone to be a king. And he went to that house and he asked, ‘Where are your children?‘
Well, the first one came. He seems to be well-built and so forth. He could be the king. But Samuel said, ‘No.‘
And the last one that came was the small boy who had been taking care of the sheep and God said, ‘That is the person.‘
So God in the text says He doesn’t see to external appearances but the internal disposition. And this applies beautifully to our Elects. You are chosen not because you are the cream of society but God sees in you as the one who is willing to accept Jesus.
And this is seen more directly in the Second Reading taken from Ephesians. And in this particular book, Ephesus, it is in modern day Turkey, and the text says, ‘You were in darkness.’ Yes, they are far away from Israel where Jesus had been preaching and so forth. ‘You were in darkness‘ but what happened? God has chosen you.
And in the Second Reading, ‘You were in darkness‘ and Christ comes and brings that light. So now we will see, this Sunday is called Rejoice Sunday. We rejoice because God’s love has reached out to each one of us. Let us ask God to help us to be able to be in the light.
The long passage of the Gospel text is a cure of a man born blind. The people saw a big wonderous thing – man born blind now able to see, but what is happening was the Pharisees, the rulers, they did not want to accept it.
And where was their argument coming from?
This thing has been done on a Sabbath. So whoever does a miracle on a Sabbath is a sinner. But for the man born blind, first he says, ‘He must be a prophet to be able to open my eyes.‘
And let us ask God to be able to see the good in others. Yes. very often we can be judgmental. And most of our sin is in that. We accuse others, we don’t see the good in others and we continue to be darkened. Yes and today’s Reading says:
Open your eyes, see the good in others.
And as we will continue with our Scrutiny, for the first time, our Elect will join us and to profess the faith. They are one. Yes, there are a few words but it is challenging us how I am able to live as a child of God, believing is personal relationship.
So, it may be words that you are uttering but go back and reflect on these words and if you are in this stage of your formation towards baptism, ask God to help you to come closer to Him.
As I said earlier, success is not an end. It is a journey and you continue struggling to come closer to God and in applies to all of us. Very often we take it for granted but God is there with us and He is enlightening us.
Click below to listen to the homily and watch the video:
Click to live-stream Mass on 10 March 2024