There is a hymn many of us know by heart: “Amazing Grace.” The words are simple, but the story behind them is powerful. The hymn was written by a man named John Newton. He was originally a sailor and slave trader in the 18th century. He spent years transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. According to his own testimony, he lived a reckless life, far from God, far from mercy, far from grace.
But one night, in 1748, during a violent storm at sea, Newton thought the ship would sink. In desperation, he cried out to God for mercy. That moment began a slow and painful conversion. Eventually he left the slave trade, and over time sought ordination in the Church of England. In 1764, he was ordained an Anglican priest and became the pastor of a parish in Olney. While serving there, he wrote those words that have touched millions:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.
Those words capture the heart of today’s readings: the grace of God that finds us. Not the grace we earn. Not the grace we deserve. But the grace that finds us even when we are lost.
In the first reading from First Book of Samuel, God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint a king among the sons of Jesse. One by one the strong and impressive sons pass before him. Samuel thinks surely one of them must be the chosen one. But God says something remarkable: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.” Seven sons pass by. None of them is chosen.
Finally Samuel goes on to ask Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replies almost casually, “There is still the youngest… but he is out tending the sheep.” In other words: He doesn’t really matter. He’s just the shepherd boy. But that forgotten boy is David. David was hidden in the fields, unnoticed by everyone else. Yet the grace of God found him and David is anointed king. The world overlooked him. But grace knew exactly where to look.
The same thing happens in the Gospel from the Gospel according John. Jesus encounters a man who had been blind from birth. In the ancient world, blindness carried a terrible stigma. People assumed it must be punishment for sin. The man was reduced to begging. Invisible to society. Forgotten. But Jesus stops. Out of all the people walking that road that day, Jesus notices the one everyone else ignored. He touches him. He heals him. He gives him sight. But something even more beautiful happens. The blind man not only begins to see with his eyes, he begins to see who Jesus is. At first he says, “The man called Jesus healed me.” Later he calls him “a prophet.” And finally he falls before him and says, “Lord, I believe.” Once he was blind.
Now he sees. And we begin to understand that the miracle is not only physical sight. It is the moment when someone realizes: God has found me.
That is the thread running through today’s readings. Grace finds the shepherd boy in the field. Grace finds the blind beggar on the roadside, and centuries later, Grace found John Newton on a stormy sea.
And the Psalm we prayed today tells us exactly why: Because, “The Lord is my shepherd.” In Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd does not wait for the sheep to find him. He goes searching. He leads. He restores. He walks through the darkest valley with us. A shepherd knows something important about sheep: sheep get lost. They wander. They stray. They end up in places they never intended to go. But the shepherd does not say, “You should have known better.” He does not say, “That serves you right.” The shepherd goes looking.
That is the heart of God. And maybe someone here today needs to hear that. Maybe you feel like that word from the hymn: “wretch.” Maybe you feel lost. Maybe you feel ashamed of decisions you made. Maybe you believe your story is too complicated, too broken; too far gone. But the message of today’s readings is breathtaking: Grace knows where to find you. It found David in the pasture. It found the blind man on the roadside. It found a slave trader in the middle of the ocean. And it can find you too. The Shepherd is still searching.
But the story does not end there. Saint Paul tells us in his Letter to the Ephesians: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” When grace finds us, it changes us. David becomes a king after God’s heart. The blind man becomes a witness who boldly speaks the truth. John Newton becomes a preacher of mercy. When the Shepherd finds the sheep, the sheep begins to follow the Shepherd. We move from darkness to light. From blindness to vision. From lost to found.
So today, on this Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing, God is whispering the same truth to every heart here: You are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You are not beyond redemption. The Shepherd knows your name. Maybe you came to Mass today carrying shame. Maybe you came with regrets. Maybe you came wondering whether God still cares. He searched for David in the fields. He searched for the blind man in the dust. He searched for a slave trader on a stormy sea. The Lord does not rest, does not tire; does not look away, until the one who was lost is safe in His arms. Today… that one could be you.”
Homily for 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) Year A 2026 by Fr Emmanuel Ochigbo
Add comment