4th SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR C ~ MARCH 30, 2025
Are we lost in our characters?
Once a political leader heard about a saint, so he decided to visit him to see why people praise him so much. As he went there, he saw there was a small room where carpet was spread, and some people were sitting. They were asking the saint questions, and he was answering them. The leader went with four bodyguards to show how important he was, but no one welcomed him or paid any attention to him, not even the saint. He felt insulted and got angry. He interrupted the saint and said, “I want to tell you something”. The saint looked at him; “wait for a while, let me answer these questions and then I will talk to you”. But the leader got upset and started to shout at him saying, “Do you know who I am? Who do you think you are talking to? The saint looked at him and said, “whoever you are, if you want me to answer your question or talk to you then you have to wait for a while”. However, the leader got mad and said, “whether you want to listen to me or not, I will tell you in front of everyone what I think about you. You are not a saint, you are a hypocrite and you are fooling these people sitting here. Your only motive is to take money from these people. You are using people for your own benefit, and I am not going to leave you alone, I will expose you in front of whole world”.
Even after listening to all this, there was a smile on saint’s face. The leader became furious and said, “Enough is enough, I will not stay here one more minute, you have one chance, if you apologize to me then you can stay here otherwise you are going to pay a big price”. Despite all this, the saint was still calm and smiling, he folded his hands and said, “I have no grudge against you. I don’t have ill feelings for you and whatever you have said about me, is your own opinion. I don’t see anything wrong in you. You seem like a very good person to me”.
As soon as saint said this, leader got happy because the saint acknowledged that he was a very good person and many other people said the same. He left the saint and came home with a happy face and met with his father and told the whole story to him with a boastful heart. After listening to him, his father said, “He didn’t praise you, what he said was not about you but reflection of himself. And whatever you said to him, was not about him but reflection of yourself”.
The story above speaks a lot about our characters and personalities. There is a Japanese saying “every person has three faces: The first face you show to the world. The second face you show to your close friends and your family. The third face, you never show to anyone, which is the truest reflection of who you are”. The parable of the Prodigal son/lost son is the true depiction of the above saying. Everyone in the parable has different personalities: one doesn’t want to be part of the family, second is the symbol of love, forgiveness and acceptance and third doesn’t want to enter the home because of anger.
Everyone Sunday we are given extraordinary accounts of Jesus’ life to ponder and meditate on. We joined the Lord in the desert on the first Sunday of Lent to examine our own temptations and struggles of our life. On the Second Sunday we were with the Lord to see his glory on the Holy Mount of Tabor to be with him. Last Sunday we were invited to repent and bear fruit by reflecting on the Parable of the Fig Tree which also reminded us that God keeps giving us the chance.
St. Theophilus of Antioch (d. October 18, 183) an apologist who stood to defend the faith against a pagan friend wrote something wonderful for us to read during this season of Lent by saying’ “If you say, “Show me your God,” I will say to you, “Show me what kind of person you are, and I will show you my God.” Show me then whether the eyes of your mind can see, and the ears of your heart hear.”
It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear high or low or pleasant. So, it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.
God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, if they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.
A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.
But if you will, you can be healed. Hand yourself over to the doctor, and he will open the eyes of your mind and heart. Who is to be the doctor? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and wisdom. Through his Word and wisdom, he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew. If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God. But, before all, faith and the fear of God must take the first place in your heart, and then you will understand all this. When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in him now”.
This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday because the joy of our salvation is drawing near to us. In the Western Christian liturgical calendar Laetare Sunday is the fourth Sunday in the season of Lent. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration, within the austere period of Lent. This Sunday gets its name from the first few words (incipit) of the traditional Latin entrance (Introit) for the Mass of the day. “Laetare Jerusalem” (“Rejoice, O Jerusalem”) is Latin from Isaiah 66:10. The term “Laetare Sunday” is used mostly by Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. The word comes from the Latin laetare, the singular imperative of laetari: “to rejoice”. The Entrance antiphon reads: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast”.
We must rejoice in the Lord because he loved us and died for us so that we may not be trapped in the evil around us. St. Paul writes in the letter to Philippians “rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice in the Lord” is a beautiful invitation to come out of our doubts, faults and sins and believe he has the power to forgive. St. Augustine reflects the same element in this way “Those who have been freed and raised up follow the light. The light they follow speaks to them: I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness. The Lord gives light to the blind. Brethren, that light shines on us now, for we have had our eyes anointed with the eye-salve of faith. His saliva was mixed with earth to anoint the man born blind. We are of Adam’s stock, blind from our birth; we need him to give us light. He mixed saliva with earth, and so it was prophesied: Truth has sprung up from the earth. He himself has said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. We shall be in possession of the truth when we see face to face. This is his promise to us. Who would dare to hope for something that God in his goodness did not choose to promise or bestow? We shall see face to face. The Apostle says: Now I know in part, now obscurely through a mirror, but then face to face.
John the Apostle says in one of his letters: “Dearly beloved, we are now children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. We know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. This is a great promise.
If you love me, follow me. “I do love you,” you protest, “but how do I follow you?” If the Lord your God said to you: “I am the truth and the life,” in your desire for truth, in your love for life, you would certainly ask him to show you the way to reach them. You would say to yourself: “Truth is a great reality; life is a great reality; if only it were possible for my soul to find them!”
Someone wrote the following poem to open our hearts and minds that though we all are prodigal and turn away from the Lord, he is gracious and merciful, and he does not account our sins.
A number of years ago, I had the rather unique experience of being backstage in Madison Square Garden, in New York, during the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. To say the least, it was a fascinating experience. I was able to walk around looking at the lions, tigers, giraffes and all the other circus animals. As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.
“Well,” he said, “when they are very young and much smaller, we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They think the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they could not, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto our personal beliefs and we get lost in them. However, we must taste and see how good the Lord is and then we can say “I was lost but being found again, dead but brought back to life. How wonderful it is to see that God loves us and blesses us every blessing we need in our lives. The Psalmist says, “if you remember iniquities and transgression, who could be saved? but with you is found mercy and forgiveness”. We too read in the Book of Prophet Ezekiel that God has no pleasure in the death of a wicked “But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?” (18:21-29).
The First Reading explains to us that God has the power to remove any disgrace which can thwart us from believing in God through the Blood of the Lamb. God keep giving the Bread of eternal life (please read John 6 & Hebrews 9) to understand the real meaning of Jesus being our real Bread of Life. The Israelites were prodigal children in a time they complain (please read Psalm95) but God’s love was unconditional, and he brought them to promised land where honey and milk flows. How many times we have become disobedient to God but still he has shown his love?
In the Gospel today the scribes and the Pharisees who studied Jesus’ actions were scandalised by the things that Jesus did and murmured against him: “This man is dangerous!” What scandalised them most was the fact that “Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, that he talked with them”. Hence their reaction: “this man offends God; he desecrates the ministry of the prophet which is a sacred ministry” and “he desecrates it in order to draw close to these people”. The music of their murmuring is the music of hypocrisy, and “Jesus responds to this murmuring hypocrisy with a parable of “Prodigal Son” in which he shows the unconditional love of the Father and his heart of mercy.
The story not only highlights some features of the father who is a man always ready to forgive and to hope against hope but also it exposes our human nature and understanding of other.
- The first feature we see is tolerance of the father before the younger son’s decision to leave home: he could have opposed it, knowing that he was still immature, a youth, or sought a lawyer not to give him his inheritance, as the father was still living. Instead, he allows the son to leave, although foreseeing the possible risks. (Please read Sirach 30:1-13). God works with us like this: He allows us to be free, even to making mistakes, because in creating us, He has given us the great gift of freedom. It is for us to put it to good use. This gift of freedom that God gives us always amazes me! St. Paul says, “The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2Timothy 2:11-13).
- The Second feature of the Father is though the son has left him but the separation from his son is only physical; for the father always carries him in his heart; trustingly, he awaits his return; the father watches the road in the hope of seeing him. And one day he sees him appear in the distance. But this means that this father, every day, would climb up to the terrace to see if his son was coming back! Thus, the father is moved to see him, he runs toward him, embraces him, kisses him. So much tenderness! And this son got into trouble! But the father still welcomes him so.
- The third feature of the father is that he is ready to forgive and forget what sone has done to him. He has forgotten his own pain and hurt but rejoices that his son has come back. (Please read Psalm51…a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise). God the Father has the same heart of forgive us even if we turn away from him but he “I have seen the misery of my people and have heard their cries and have come down to save them”. How wonderful to see his heart in times when we become prodigal.
- The fourth feature of the father is his spirit of celebration. He orders his servant to restore back the status of his son by providing him the best shoes, rob and ring and have fatted animal slaughtered to rejoice over his coming. The Holy Bible starting from Adam and Eve keeps reminding us of God’s spirit of rejoicing and celebrating for people who come back to him (please read Ezekiel 33:1-12).
- The fifth feature of the father is that he treated the eldest son the same way, but as he had always stayed at home, he is now indignant and complains because he does not understand and does not share all that kindness toward his brother. The father also goes to meet this son and reminds him that they were always together, they share everything, one must welcome with joy the brother who has finally returned home. And this makes me think of something: When one feels one is a sinner, one feels worthless, or as I’ve heard some say: ‘Father, I am like dirt’, so then, this is the moment to go to the Father. Instead, when one feels righteous – ‘I always did the right thing’, equally, the Father comes to seek us, because this attitude of feeling ‘right’, is the wrong attitude: it is pride! It comes from the devil. The Father waits for those who recognize they are sinners and goes in search of the ones who feel ‘righteous’. This is our Father!
The figure of the Father in the parable reveals the heart of God. He is the Merciful Father who, in Jesus, loves us beyond measure, always awaits our conversion every time we make mistakes; he awaits our return when we turn away from him thinking, we can do without him; he is always ready to open his arms no matter what happened. As the father of the Gospel, God also continues to consider us his children, even when we get lost, and comes to us with tenderness when we return to him. He addresses us so kindly when we believe we are right. The errors we commit, even if bad, do not wear out the fidelity of his love. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can always start out anew: He welcomes us, gives us the dignity of being his children and tells us: “Go ahead! Be at peace! Rise, go ahead!”.
However, on the other hand, younger son is lost in his own world of selfishness who doesn’t want to be with the family. He wants to live in “I, me and myself” world. How painful his action would have been to his father? (Please read Sirach 30:1-13). And the older son did the same but acted in a different way to show to his father how good and obedient, he had been throughout his life but refuses to show love and forgiveness to his younger brother. (Please read Hebrews 13:1-10). Both were lost in their own characters of selfishness and anger.
Tony Masiello is a speaker, author, and consultant, he shared the following story.
Isn’t it amazing how you never have to water your weeds or nurture them and they still give you an unwanted crop? I can remember as a young boy growing up in Santa Cruz, California my grandfather showed me how to dig up this pesky weed called Bermuda Grass. It was terrible stuff, and it would really spread if you didn’t get it out by the roots. That was then. But more recently when my wife and I bought our first home about 8 years ago; guess what I had to deal with? If you said weeds, you are correct. There was this certain patch of weeds that was like the Bermuda Grass. In other words, just as invasive. After getting the inside of our home settled, it was time to work on the outside. On my hands and knees, I vigorously attacked the weeds with a small hand trowel getting each one out by the roots. Spring after spring, that was my ritual. Just this Spring I realized that one of the weeds was no longer prevalent, but another one was in full force. So again, I got down on my hands and knees and got to work ridding them from my yard. When I was finished, my yard was better off. What hidden message is this true story purveying? Sometimes our life can be oh so similar. Yes, we all have weeds in our life. These weeds can be challenges, setbacks, negative beliefs, or naysayers, and the list can go on and on.
The solution is when dealing with these weeds of life, get to the root of it and remove them one by one and eventually you will conquer them. And when another crop of weeds shows up, deal with them directly before they spread, because now that you know what to do with them by getting to the root, it will give you more courage and wisdom the next time a problem crops up. You could say we all need weeds in our life to challenge us to grow. Once you know how to handle the weeds in your yard to make it beautiful – so too will your life be beautiful. And we can question ourselves:
Are we lost in our characters?
Other Sermons In This Series
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C ~ July 3, 2022
June 30, 2022
Follow the Path to Conversion | December 5, 2021
December 03, 2021
27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B ~ OCTOBER 6, 2024
October 03, 2024