HOME SWEET HOME. (Homily for March 6, 2016. Fourth Sunday of Lent. Year C.)


Bible Study: Joshua 5, 9 to 12. 2nd Corinthians 5, 17 to 21 and Luke 15, 1 to 32.


The saying is indeed true that there is no place like home. On this fourth Sunday of Lent, we are called to return home. This call is echoed deeply in the voice of the prodigal son who upon coming to his senses, said to himself: “How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father.” Luke 15, 17 to 18. The hunger of the prodigal son reflects that deep longing in us which no earthly food can satisfy, that hunger for which St. Augustine writes: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.”

The call to return home is foreshadowed in our first reading, wherein we see the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua finally settling down in Gilgal. For the first time after four hundred years, they were no longer to feed on manna but on the fruit of the land of Canaan; the land flowing with Milk and Honey. Manna was a symbol of their rebellion in the desert, a symbol of sojourning across the desert.

Being heavenly-bound, we too are on a journey through a desert as well. Think of all the problems the world is facing today, listen to the news and you will appreciate the fact that we are just in a desert. All the world has to offer us is manna at its very best and this is why Jesus was not carried away by Satan’s offer of earthly kingdoms. Jesus knew that all the kingdoms of the world are simply desert compared to the glory of heaven and so refused to bow.

The prodigal son represents that desire in us to grab and grab the material pleasures of the world. That he was able to squander all he had within a short time shows that all the world has to offer only last for a short time; money reduces in value, beauty fades, things get broken, fame diminishes, love soon turns to heart-break, nothing lasts forever on earth!

Every time, we value the things of this world over and above God, we are acting very much like the prodigal son. Every time we refuse to obey the voice of God for the sake of enjoying that which the world has to offer, we are stepping out of the father’s house. Every sin is a prodigal act. It always looks very attractive and beneficial at the beginning and God respects our freedom if we choose to go to that direction. But no sooner had we fallen, do we realise the pain and sorrow of our foolishness.

In the end, that which promised us lasting enjoyment away from the father’s presence soon turns into starvation and misery and it dawns on us that we would have been better off in the father’s house; that is, within the comfort zone of obeying God’s commandments. Quite often, like children standing in front of their father’s compound, the grass always greener in their neighbour’s compound. We tend to believe that there is something to be gained from sin and instead of appreciating where we are in God, we begin to see God’s house as burdensome.

Both the younger son and the older one had the same problem; they were no longer satisfied with what they had. While the younger son decided to explore what was out there, the elder son kept to himself. He too longed to go out but he wanted his father to give him a go ahead, his obedience was not genuine; it was just a show. This was why he felt cheated when the younger son returned. He didn’t see the need to celebrate his brother’s return because he did not appreciate the fact that this boy was dead and is now back to life. He felt the boy only went out there to “enjoy.”

Many of us strive to avoid sin, yet deep down within us, we believe there is something to enjoy in sin so we envy people swimming in sin. A story is told of a monk who died and went to heaven, and upon getting there, he saw a man who was quite notorious on earth. He became angry and said to Angel Michael: “All my life, I remained a virgin just to get in here. You mean after all the things that that man over there did with so many women, he was still allowed in here? This is not fair at all!”

Dear friends, if only we able to see sin for what it really is as something that kills its victims, we would never envy anyone living in sin. Sin not only destroys the life of God inside us, it de-humanizes us and takes away our dignity by making us think less of ourselves, such that we soon start believing that we cannot really be good anymore. Like the prodigal son who forgot he was a son and had to hire himself out as a farm-worker, sin gives us a low image of ourselves. We soon begin to think it is impossible for us to be sinless and we forget we have a capacity for holiness. Any person who says he or she cannot do without sin is a type of prodigal son who is just refusing to come to his senses and return home.

Dear friends, no matter how deep we may have engrossed ourselves in sin, no matter how much pig food we may have consumed, we still have the capacity to return home. Hence St. Paul encourages us: “if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away; the new has come.” We are not slaves to sin, we are ambassadors of Christ; we are the righteousness of God. We have everything it takes to live above sin, to live as sons in the father’s house once again. Let us return home.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, I shall leave this place and return to you. Grant me the grace of true repentance. Amen.


God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.

No comments:

Post a Comment