The stronger one has come: the kingdom of God in the struggle of Lent
MASS Oculi mei
LESSON Ephesians 5: 1-9
GOSPEL St Luke 11: 14-28
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ,
The Church today gives us a liturgy full of urgency, vigilance, and spiritual realism. The Third Sunday of Lent, known from its Introit as Oculi Sunday, begins with a cry that is both humble and resolute:
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos—
“My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare.”
This is the voice of the Christian soul in the midst of spiritual battle. The Church does not pretend that the Christian life is peaceful or effortless. Rather, she teaches us that the life of grace unfolds in the midst of conflict, temptation, and struggle. And therefore she begins today by reminding us where our eyes must be fixed: not on ourselves, not on the snares around us, but upon the Lord who alone can deliver us from them.
Today’s liturgy gathers us spiritually in Rome, at the ancient station of St. Lawrence outside the Walls, along the Tiburtine Way. This basilica was first erected by the Emperor Constantine over the tomb of one of the most beloved martyrs of the Roman Church: St. Lawrence, the deacon of Pope Sixtus II. Through the centuries it has been enlarged, adorned, and visited by countless pilgrims. The high altar itself is reserved for the use of the Pope, and the basilica remains one of the most venerable sanctuaries of the Eternal City.
Why does the Church bring us here today?
Because St. Lawrence reminds us that the Christian life requires sacrifice. When the Roman authorities demanded that he surrender the treasures of the Church, Lawrence gathered the poor, the widows, and the suffering and declared: “These are the treasures of the Church.” For that confession he was condemned to death and burned upon the gridiron.
His martyrdom was not merely an act of courage; it was a witness to a deeper truth: that Christ has already conquered the powers of the world. Lawrence did not fear death because he belonged to the stronger kingdom.
And this leads us directly to the Gospel we have heard today.
In the Gospel according to St. Luke, Our Lord is casting out a devil that had rendered a man mute. The miracle astonishes the crowd, yet immediately the enemies of Christ accuse Him of working by the power of Beelzebub.
The accusation is absurd, and Our Lord exposes it as such:
“Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation.”
But then He reveals the deeper meaning of what has just taken place. He describes the devil as a strong man armed, guarding his palace. For a time the devil believed himself secure in his dominion. Humanity, enslaved by sin, lay under his tyranny.
But then comes the decisive moment of salvation history:
“If a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted and distribute his spoils.”
Christ is that stronger one.
The Son of God has entered the house of the enemy. He has disarmed him, overthrown him, and begun to reclaim what had been unjustly seized. Every soul liberated from sin, every heart converted to grace, every baptism that restores a child of Adam to divine life—these are the spoils of Christ’s victory.
This is why the Church places this Gospel before us during Lent. Lent is not merely a season of fasting and discipline; it is a season of warfare. The ancient Fathers of the Church understood it in precisely these terms. In the early centuries the catechumens preparing for baptism underwent the great scrutinies during these weeks of Lent. They were preparing to renounce Satan and all his works, and the Church prayed that Christ would deliver them from the power of darkness.
But the scrutinies are not only for the catechumens. They are also for us.
St. Paul reminds us of this in the Epistle today. He speaks with remarkable clarity:
“Be ye followers of God as most dear children… Walk as children of the light.”
The Apostle contrasts two ways of life. One belongs to darkness—uncleanness, corruption, vanity, and falsehood. The other belongs to the light—goodness, justice, and truth.
And then he warns us:
“Let no man deceive you with vain words.”
This warning is as necessary today as it was in the apostolic age. The world constantly tells us that sin does not matter, that moral boundaries are unnecessary, that truth can be reshaped according to desire. But St. Paul reminds us that such illusions belong to the darkness. Those who follow them cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Therefore Lent calls us to a choice: to live as children of the light.
Yet Our Lord’s Gospel contains another warning—one even more searching. After casting out the demon, Christ tells the parable of the unclean spirit that leaves a man but later returns. Finding the house swept and adorned, the spirit brings seven others more wicked than itself, and the final state of the man becomes worse than the first.
What does this mean?
It means that conversion cannot remain empty. A soul that merely abandons sin but does not fill itself with grace remains vulnerable. The heart must not only be cleansed—it must be inhabited by God.
This is why the liturgy today repeatedly lifts our eyes toward heaven.
The Introit tells us:
“My eyes are ever towards the Lord.”
The Tract echoes the same prayer:
“As the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters… so are our eyes unto the Lord our God.”
And at Holy Communion the Church reminds us where the soul finds its true home:
“The sparrow hath found herself a house… Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts.”
The Christian life is not sustained merely by effort or discipline. It is sustained by the presence of God. The altar becomes the dwelling place of the soul because here Christ Himself feeds us with His Body and Blood.
And so the liturgy leads us step by step to the altar. The Secret prayer asks that the sacrifice may cleanse us in both soul and body. The Preface of Lent reminds us that fasting disciplines our vices and lifts up our minds. And the Postcommunion implores that the sacrament we have received may protect us from every danger.
Everything in today’s Mass points to the same truth: Christ is stronger than the enemy.
The devil may still prowl. Temptations may still arise. But the decisive victory has already been won. Christ has bound the strong man. The kingdom of God has come among us.
Therefore the Church asks only one thing of us: that our eyes remain fixed upon the Lord.
St. Lawrence understood this. When the flames of martyrdom surrounded him, his eyes were not fixed on the cruelty of his persecutors but on the glory of Christ. And because of that faith he triumphed.
So too must we keep our gaze fixed on Christ—especially during this holy season of Lent.
Fix your eyes on Him in prayer.
Fix your eyes on Him in the discipline of fasting.
Fix your eyes on Him in the charity you show to others.
Fix your eyes on Him above all in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
For if our eyes remain upon the Lord, then the promise of today’s Introit will be fulfilled:
“He shall pluck my feet out of the snare.”
And the stronger one—Christ our Lord—will lead us safely from the struggle of this world into the victory of His Kingdom.
Amen.
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