Are You Scared - Homily Reflection 4th Sunday Lent

(Scripture Readings)

Let me tell you about my week.

Monday, my wife and I were eating lunch and received fortune cookies at the end of the meal. Mine read, “You cannot be happy in what you want to be. Be happy in what you are.”

Janet says, “That would make a good homily.”

I didn’t think a fortune cookie homily was a good idea.

Tuesday, I read an article about a young woman entering a cloistered convent. At 21, she was leaving her family, friends, and the world to live as a bride of Christ in penance and prayer.

Her sister said, I don’t see a nun, I see my little sister with wild curly hair and loves pretty clothes.

This young woman was asked a question, “Are you scared?”

I think everyone has thought about that in their life, being scared. We like control; we want to be who we want to be and when we're not in control we can get scared.

Wednesday, I read the scriptures for this Sunday.

David was just a boy out tending the sheep and goats when God call him to be King of Israel. God had rejected all of David’s brothers who were taller, smarter, strong warriors, and charismatic leaders.

David’s father and brothers didn’t see a king. They saw a ruddy faced little boy who tended the flocks. God chose David. God sent Samuel to anoint a boy as the next king of Israel.

I wonder if someone asked David that day, “Are you scared?” David had no control of God’s plan for him.

There was a blind man Jesus healed. The disciples saw nothing special in him. In fact they asked, “Why was this man born blind?” “Did this man sin or was it his parents?” They looked at the blind man and saw sin.

The blind man sat alongside of the road listening for Jesus’ answer. I wonder what the blind man would have said if someone asked, “Are you scared?”

He had no control of the sins of his parents or his past or what he would be. The blind man had no control of what Jesus would do in his life.

Thursday someone told me of their life and failures. I wondered how many look themselves and see nothing special? There is no way the Lord would call me.

Not true; each of us is born for the same reason “…so the works of God might be made visible through us.” It’s out of our control - God’s plan for us. Are you scared?

The Psalm says, “The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.” It continues, “Though I walk through the dark valley I shall not fear, for God is at my side.”

It’s true. The Lord is our shepherd. Before anyone became who they are like the nun or King David or a blind man healed by Jesus, the Lord was their shepherd. With the Lord there is nothing we lack or nothing to fear. There is no reason to be scared. God is the one in control.

We know the words of the Psalm. We have good intentions. We want to live for Jesus. We want to do good things in the world. We want to be someone who will make the works of God visible to the world.

Yet, in all this, we still see ourselves as what we are sinners who have failed the Lord. Deep inside we cry that there is nothing special this sinner to give to God.  

That’s not what God sees, “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the hearts.” “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”

We are scared because we have no control.

Friday was the Way of the Cross, confession, and Fr. Job giving me the blessing of giving the homily.

In that it was made clear: No one really knows until they are called how they will make the works of God visible in the world. That’s up to God. We wait until the moment that God lifts us up, lifts up our works and prayers and makes it His works.

David was boy tending his flock. By the end of his life, he was a strong and powerful king of a great country.

The blind man was a beggar on the street. By the end of the Gospel, he was thrown out of the synagogue for defending Jesus.

The 21 year old nun is someone’s curly haired little sister who loves pretty clothes. She admitted to sometimes getting cold feet about God’s call.

Are you scared? There’s no need to be. In the light of Christ, goodness and kindness will follow us all the days of our life.

Today, I remember that fortune cookie, “You cannot be happy in what you want to be. Be happy in what you are.”

We are by grace what God calls us to be. That’s what Lent is about, realizing what God calls us to be – someone who will make the works of God visible to the world.

Y’all be good, y’all be holy, preach the Gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.