INTRODUCTION
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Lætare (Rejoice) Sunday, from the first words of today’s liturgy. As on Gaudete Sunday in Advent, rose-colored vestments may replace violet, and flowers may grace the altar, symbolizing the Church’s joy in anticipation of the Resurrection of Our Lord. The central theme of today’s readings is that our salvation is the free gift of a merciful God, given to us sinners through Jesus, His Son. The readings stress God’s mercy and compassion and remind us of the great love, kindness and grace extended to us in Christ.
FIRST READING: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
2 Chronicles describes the history of the period from the reign of Israel’s first king, Saul, (1030 BC), to the end of Judah’s exile in Babylon (550 BC), presenting both the moments of God’s reward of their fidelity as well as moments of God’s punishment of their infidelity. Today’s passage is the account of how the people lost the religious and cultural heritage (Temple, their homeland, and their language)
as a result of their infidelity. Eventually they were able to recognize their failings and immediately turned to their God with a cry for mercy. God showed Himself available as they expressed their need of Him and readiness for change. He infused His Spirit into a pagan king Cyrus the Great of Persia, to rescue them from Babylon and to help them rebuild their ruined Temple. The message is clear. The passage tells a sad experience of the consequence of sin which has continued to ravage humanity right from the time of the first fall. Men have always preferred to gain comfort in the embrace of sin than in righteousness. However, the text equally teaches us that despite all, sin cannot close the page of the story of God’s people for His mercy rescues them at due moment.
The writer of the text tells that the love of God is so deep that He can do anything for the sake of His people. For this, He went as far as choosing a pagan king to set them free. It was indeed a desperate measure. Today we must reflect on the following questions: What has God not done for us? What has He not given to us to win our love? Who are we to have merited the free gift of His Son?
SECOND READING: Ephesians 2:4-10
In the first half of his letter, Paul says that Divine grace does three things for us: a) brings us to life in Christ, b) raises us up with Christ, and c) seats us in the Heavens. The sole purpose of these Divine deeds is to show the immeasurable riches of God’s grace. In the second half of the reading, Paul contrasts what we can achieve spiritually on our own (nothing), with what God gives us as undeserved grace (everything). Paul also reminds us that all our goodness is God’s gift to us and, so, is nothing for us to boast about. Our goodness, such as it may be, is His goodness shining through us. “By grace we are saved through Faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 4:8-10). The second reading thus reveals “the great love [God] had for us.” Further, while this reading affirms that we are “saved through Faith,” it also makes clear that this Faith itself “is the gift of God,” given to us freely “because of the great love He [has] for us.
GOSPEL: John 3:14-21
Nicodemus was a wealthy Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (assemblies of renowned elders who were appointed to sit as a tribunal in every city in the ancient land of Israel) who
meets Jesus by night and begins a long religious discussion. Jesus redirects him to the mystery of baptism (through water and the Spirit) as a necessary to embracing the Kingdom of God. Jesus further links him to the hidden mystery of the cross as God’s choice for the salvation of humanity. The use of the story of Moses and the miraculous bronze serpent was emblematic (well known to Nicodemus) as it prefigures the miracle of the cross, the wood of salvation.
A) THE UPLIFTED SERPENT:
John makes reference to an Old Testament account of one of the horrible desert experiences of the Israelites (Num. 21:4-9); their ingratitude and series of murmuring and complaint and regret for leaving Egypt infuriated God who sent a plague of deadly serpents to them. However, when they repented and cried for mercy, God instructed Moses to make an image of a serpent on a pole, and to hold it up in the midst of the camp, so that anyone who looked upon the serpent might be healed (not through the serpent but through the power of God). In today’s Gospel lesson, Nicodemus learns that, like Moses’ bronze serpent, Jesus, too, must be “lifted up” (a contemporary euphemism for being crucified), and that the act of His being “lifted up” will similarly bring about salvation. This is the first of three references in John’s Gospel to Jesus being “lifted up” (cf. 8:28, 12:32-34). Specifically, this reference foreshadows the crucifixion of Jesus who carried with him the burden of the sins of the world. When humans turn their thoughts to their crucified Savior and believe in him, they too will find eternal life. Jesus was lifted up twice: on the Cross and at his Ascension into Heaven. Just as the cross was the way to glory for Jesus, so it is for us. We can, if we like, refuse the cross that every Christian is called to bear. It is an unalterable law of human life, however, that without the cross, there is no crown.
B) BELIEVING IN JESUS:
Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about faith in the Son of God. The Faith which He speaks of is not just intellectual acceptance of the truths He teaches. It is a act of decision that involves ones whole being. It intends recognizing Jesus as Son of God (cf. 1 Jn 5:1), sharing His very life (cf. John 1:12), and surrendering ourselves to Him out of love, thereby becoming like Him (cf. Jn 10:27; 1 John 3:2) (Navarre Bible). This faith is not abstract. It is a faith accompanied with “good works”. It is this faith that saves for eternal life.
C) THE GOSPEL OF THE GOSPELS:
John 3:16 is the most known and most cited and probably the most loved verse in the Bible and it has been called “everybody’s text” and the “Gospel of the Gospels.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the summary of the Gospel message of salvation through Christ Jesus. This text is the very essence of the Gospel. It tells us that the God takes the initiative in all salvation because of His love for man. As St. Augustine puts it: “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. It is our God who brings us to greater belief in our daily struggles and temptations, and leads us to eternal life, thus demonstrating the depth of His love for us.
D) LOVE OF DARKNESS ATTRACTS GOD’S ’s JUDGEMENT:
When we walk according to the teachings of Christ, we are walking in the Light. If we oppose these teachings, we oppose Christ himself; hence, we are walking in darkness. In today’s text, we are told, “Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”
Our world is full of many dark corners and the life of many (Christians included) are hidden in these dark corners needing the light of Christ to penetrate them.The infections from these dark corners include, among many others, addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, and sexual immorality, environmental irresponsibility, and a lack of purpose burdening many of us especially among young people. It is very easy to pretend that these dark corners don’t exist. God is always interested in those dark corners because our lives matter to Him, and He knows all the hidden corners in our lives. He wants us to stop hiding our sin in the dark and demands that we expose every dark corner to His Light of life, so that we will be able to receive what He is giving to us — the Light that not only shows up the dirt in our lives but cleans it away. The light of His forgiveness shines brightly in every corner and available for who needs it. We must stop pretending as if we don’t see it.
LIFE MESSAGES:
1) Our rebirth by water and the Spirit must be an ongoing process. As Christians, we are meant to lead a life of repentance and on-going conversion, bringing us to a renewal of life with the help of the Holy Spirit living within us. The renewal of the Spirit comes when we work with Him to be liberated from the bondage of evil habits by using the Divine strength we receive from Him through prayer, Bible reading and frequenting the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist.
2) Let us be bearers of Jesus’ Light and carry it to other people. When we allow the Light of God’s forgiveness to shine in our lives, it brightens up every corner, forgives every sin, restores our relationship with God, and renews our lives. Whoever follows Jesus will not walk in darkness. We will experience the joy and peace of sins forgiven, of new attitudes and of new relationships with God, family and friends. Jesus’ Light of truth, justice, holiness, and charity shining in our lives is meant to bring blessing to others. We are to let this Light of Christ shine through us into the lives of the people around us. The Light we give to others can dispel the darkness of their lives and bring them to a completely new outlook. Let us not underestimate what the Light of Christ can do through us. As Jesus said: “You are the light of the world…. your light must shine before people so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven” (Mt. 5:14, 16).
3) If there is anything we must love, it should be the cross, the symbol of God’s forgiving and merciful love: The crucifix – the symbol of the “lifted up” Jesus – holds a central place in our Churches because it is a forceful reminder not only of God’s love and mercy, but also of the price of our salvation. Hence, no Christian home should be without this symbol of God’s love. The crucifix invites us to respond with more than compassion; it inspires us to remove the suffering of other people’s misery. It encourages us not only to feel deep sorrow for another’s suffering, but also to try our best to remove that suffering. Hence, let us love the cross, wear its image and carry our own daily cross with joy. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
4) The cross of Christ is our comfort and our hope. It is often very difficult to accept and live suffering as part of human experience. And many Christians have a false understanding of the mystery of Christ’ death as an end to their suffering in the flesh. Many preachers give false interpretations that He has paid for our suffering and therefore we should not suffer again, hence the gospel of easy life and prosperity. Jesus’s death was meant to reunite us back to the Father after the great fall, and to make God accessible for us. Our suffering can be a way of salvation if we learn to unite it to the suffering of Christ.
However, when we think we have suffered so much to the point that there is more no meaning in life, let us look at Jesus on the cross. He had everything yet He lost everything except the Father’s love. When we feel that God is indifferent to our suffering, let us know that He knew what it means to suffer. He watched His only Son die in a horrible and wretched manner. May our contemplation of the crucified Lord help us to know that our wounds, our hunger, our thirst, our nakedness, our betrayal, our mockery, our rejection and our loneliness were first experienced by Him, and that He identifies with us.
PRAYER
O God, who through your Word reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way, grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith we may hasten towards the solemn celebrations to come. You who with the Son and the Holy Spirit reign in perfect communion forever and ever. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
