Fr. Patrick SDB- Homily- Sunday 10 March 2024 –IV Sunday of Lent - LAETARE Sunday (year B)
Key Verse to Meditate: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).
On this fourth Sunday of Lent, the liturgy of the word of God invites us to meditate on Jesus, the merciful face of God, who is the source of our joy. God is ever faithful and merciful, and He has loved us much in Jesus Christ. This is the central message that appears in the three readings.
Obeying
the Voice of the Lord: The first part of the reading reminds us
of the faithfulness of God to the people of Israel despite their failure to
observe the commandments of God: "Furthermore, all the officials of the
priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of
the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in
Jerusalem. And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and
again by His messengers because He had compassion on His people and on His
dwelling place. But they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His
words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against
His people, until there was no remedy" (2Chr 36:14-16).
God always sent His prophets, reminding them of His
infinite mercy and love, demanding from them a listening ear: "Obey My
voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people" (Jer 7:23). But
the people were always unfaithful. This is also the story that Prophet Jeremiah
narrates in the earlier part of the book: "Yet they did not obey or
incline their ear but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of
their evil heart and went backward and not forward" (Jer 7:24).
In the second part, it tells us how they were deported
to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar and how the city of Jerusalem, the holy
temple of Jerusalem, and the walls of the city of Jerusalem were destroyed. But
God’s promise of the restoration of Israel and the redemptive plan of Israel
was never forgotten by God.
The last part of the reading gives us hope as it gave
hope to the people of Israel in exile. Cyrus, king of Persia, inspired by the
Lord, gave hope and joy to the people in exile that they could go back to
rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem.
The message of the first reading is applicable even
for us today. Just like the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32), we too can turn away
from God, but we must be aware that any turning away from God produces failure
in life. We are free: therefore, we can sin and, to sin, means to exclude God.
But sin has direct consequences on life and on history, just as putting a hand
on the fire itself produces a burn. We must trust God’s infinite mercy and love
and turn to him with faith and confidence. He never leaves us. God is always
beside us, and he never abandons us because he loves us. God always remembers
his covenant and never forgets to show his mercy and love to human beings. This
is the thought being explained in the first reading, leading us to the second
reading.
The Second Reading: In the second reading from the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul reiterates the redemptive love of Jesus, emphasizing that He came to redeem us even when we were dead due to our sins: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:4-5). St. Paul's preaching emphasizes that we are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (v. 8). Having experienced the mercy and special grace of Jesus himself, St. Paul would often say that God showed the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Eph 2:7). God wants us to follow His commandments and walk according to a righteous way of living.
In the first reading, we saw how God punished the stubborn attitude of the Israelites with destruction and exile. However, His mercy lasts forever. What He promised then has now been realized in Jesus Christ: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10).
The Gospel Reading: The Gospel reading from St. John this Sunday comes as a culmination of the thoughts reflected in the first two readings. In the Gospel passage from St. John, we see Jesus responding to Nicodemus, a notable Jew who came to him at night, revealing God's plan of love for the world, which is being realized in His person. In fulfilment of His promises to our ancestors, God sent down to earth His only son, not to condemn it but to redeem it. As St. Paul said in the first reading, the gospel too emphasizes the element of believing in Jesus as the core element required for our redemption.
To be lifted up on the Cross: In the first verse we read, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (Jn 3:14). There is a beautiful analogy in this verse. The verse points out that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Num 21), even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. It implies that Jesus must be crucified (Jn 8:28; 12:32, 34). We should note that the modal verb used here “must” in this verse emphasizes the fact that Christ’s death was a necessary part of God’s plan of salvation (Mt 16:21; Mk 8:31; Lk 9:22; 17:25; 24:7, 26; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28; 17:3). It is a plan of God that Jesus had to die as a substitute for sinners, as St. Paul points out, “the wage of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). In the letter to the Hebrews, Paul affirms that “without the shedding of the blood of Jesus on the cross, there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). Therefore, as we heard it in the second reading of today, God, because of His great love, is merciful towards us” (Eph 2:4). And therefore, John says that God “sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Also, he goes on to affirm that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10).
For God so loved the world : Today’s gospel presents to us one of the most loved and heart-touching verses in the New Testament that summarizes the meaning of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross. Christ responded to this teacher of Israel by affirming that, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).This verse invariably reminds one of the apparently incomprehensible story of the sacrifice of Isaac, the beloved son of Abraham (Gen 22). God's heart is so big to give His only begotten son.
This single verse contains very significant individual words to contemplate, such as God, World, Gave, Son, Believe, Perish, and Life. God continues to love the world as He did from the beginning. It is a fundamental truth of life that God loves the world and everyone in it, offering the gift of eternal life to all who believe in His Son. The term "world" in this verse could refer to fallen humanity due to sin. Jesus, referring to the world at large, states that the world hates Him because of its evil deeds (Jn 7:7). In the latter part of the gospel, Jesus warns us that the world lacks the capacity to receive the Spirit of truth (Jn 14:17)."
God freely gives and forgives. He freely gave His only Son to be our sustenance (Jn 6:35) and to be a sacrificial victim for our sake on the cross (1 Pet 2:24). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins and leads us to eternal life (Jn 1:29, 36). Jesus is the bread of God who has come down from heaven to give life to the world (Jn 6:33; cf. 6:51, 62). Jesus often declares, "He has come down from heaven" (Jn 6:38).
Jesus is the gift from God the Father to each of us. Through this giving of the Son, God sent His Son into the world to be sacrificed. Thus, this grace came at a great cost. This understanding of verse 16 directs us to the next verse (v. 17), which replaces the word "give" with "send." "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him" (Jn 3:17). What is required of us as disciples is to receive this gift with sincere faith and repentance because believing in Jesus means receiving Jesus. St. John would say that God granted the grace to become His children to all those who received Jesus in faith and believed in His name (Jn 1:11–12).
In fact, God chose the way of the cross out of love. The cross is the demonstration of the limitless love of Jesus. That’s why Jesus could say with utmost clarity that "No one has a greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13). The cross, therefore, is the greatest revelation of the love of Jesus, but also of the love of the Father, who accepts that the Son is lifted up on the cross for the salvation of the World.
Jesus
the Light of the World: Another aspect of
today’s gospel is that it presents Jesus as the light that has come into the
world (Jn 3:19). It means that Jesus is the light of life and the opposite of
it is sinfulness or wickedness which is darkness. In John’s gospel, light is
life. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness: "I am the light of
the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the
light of life" (Jn 8:12). Also, further on, Jesus also affirms that those
who come to him, namely, those who practice truth, come to the light (see Jn
3:21). The Gospel of John places particular emphasis on the incarnation as it
is in today’s gospel. Jesus was sent by the Father. He came to a fallen world
and brought new light and life. Through his passion and his resurrection, Jesus
brought victory to the fallen human race and made possible the life of grace
for everyone. Through him, everything is brought to light.
Points
for Personal Reflection: In this season of Lent,
we need to enter into dialogue with Jesus, like Nicodemus. It may be during a
night vigil service, or it may be during your personal prayer time. But come to
Jesus at night or any time of the day, with your questions, heartaches, and
sinfulness. You will discover the meaning of your existence through your faith-filled
encounter with Jesus in prayer. Jesus will listen to your questions and answer
you, without sending you back empty-handed.
If we want to understand the merciful face of God on the cross, we need to enter into dialogue with the Savior, who loves us until the end. Jesus invites you to live in the light of His grace and truth (Jn 8:12). Be thrilled to have the joy of sitting at the feet of the Rabbi of Nazareth, the Christ the Lord, who is the power and wisdom of God (1Cor 1:24). Discover passionately the person of Christ and His teachings, and it will become in you a wellspring of joy, a wellspring of living water (Jn 4:14; Prov 4:23). And it would lead one to discover the meaning of the cross so that we can live in the light. Do I believe in the eternal life offered by Jesus to those who believe in His name?
Jesus is the one who leads me from darkness to light, from death to eternal
life, from ignorance to truth, and from the cross to the resurrection.
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