Sunday Reflections: Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year B)

2Chr 36:14-17, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21

God's Love is So Wonderful 

image courtesy: Google

Once God was about to create man, he consulted the angels: “Create him not,” said the Angel of Justice, “For he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellowmen, he will be bad and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous. The Angel of Truth said, “Create him not, for he will be false and deceitful for his brothers and sisters and even to you.” “Create him not,” said the Angel of Holiness, “He will follow that which is impure in your sight and dishonor you to your face.”

Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy said, “Our Heavenly Father, create him, for he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness, I’ll take him tenderly by the hand and speak loving words to him and then lead him back to you,” and God indeed created man following the counsel of the Angel of Mercy.

Our Lord’s words in today’s gospel convey us the same message that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life”. 

The fourth Sunday of Lent is sometimes called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.” Traditionally, Sundays are named after the first word of the liturgy’s opening antiphon, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breasts. (Isa 66:10-11).

As we are in the season of Lent, on this day we rejoice. The reason is that today we are made known the salvific plan of God. God’s plan for us is to liberate us from the clutches of evil and to reconcile us back to himself. This he accomplishes by sending his only Son. Thus, God shows his immense love for us. God’s love is universal and at the same time it is personal.  Our God is concerned of each person individually yet at the same time he loves us as a community. We exist in and through him and particularly so because he is the God who loved the world so much to send his own Son to gather us together that we may have new life in him. God also sends us to carry his divine love into the world and give the message of the newness of life and light.

Salvation is a free gift of God to us in his Son Jesus. As we are in the fourth week of the season of Lent, the liturgy invites us to keep our focus on the mystery of God’s immense love and his way of granting us salvation gratuitously through His Son Jesus.  

The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Chronicles, we learn the compassion and patience of God. God chose Cyrus the Great, a pagan conqueror, to become the instrument of His mercy and salvation for His chosen people exiled in Babylon. 

In the second reading, Paul tells us that God is so rich in mercy that He has granted us eternal salvation and eternal life as a free gift through Christ Jesus. 

The Eucharist that we celebrate is the celebration of God’s unconditional love for us. The Body and Blood of Jesus we receive fill us with hope that we are loved by God and He desires to be with us always. “…create him, for he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness, I’ll take him tenderly by the hand and speak loving words to him and then lead him back to you.” 

(You are most welcome to add your comments and reflections below)

Happy Sunday