Homily for Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent
Theme: Let us all then return to the Lord with renewed faith and love, with the sincere desire to be forgiven and to be reconciled with Him.
By: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
Homily for Saturday April 2 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Jeremiah 11:18-20
Psalm 7:2-3,9-12
John 7:40-52
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading today we heard the passage from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah about the persecutions that Jeremiah had faced from the opposition and the enemies he had among the people of Judah. He was sent to the kingdom of Judah with the warnings and reminders of God’s judgment for the people, all that they had committed, the sins and wickedness they had committed, which would lead them to ruin and destruction. The Lord wanted to remind them all that they could still turn back and return to Him.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the argument and debate among the members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council. That council was composed of the most influential and powerful members of the Jewish community, including the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the chief priests and the elders of the community and many other influential members, who were mostly opposed to the Lord Jesus and plotted against Him. They wanted to find ways to arrest Him and even to condemn Him to death.
*CONCLUSION*
Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded how pride and ego, worldly desires and temptations can mislead us down the same path as those people who had persecuted the prophets and the Lord Himself. We must never allow all those things again to distract us and to pull us away from the path towards the salvation and eternal life in God. And we have to be vigilant as we must always remind ourselves that the other destination is eternal damnation, an eternity of suffering away from God.
*LET US PRAY*
My Jesus, sometimes this life seems in disarray. I see a tangle of knots that are issues and problems in my life and society and I can get discouraged. Give me the courage to order my days in your peace when life is messy and help me look forward to the time when you will make all things new. Bless me Lord through Christ our Lord. Amen
Fr Diotacious Chikontwe SMA