4th
Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2009
The Simple
Message of Lent
by Paul Rooney
2
Chron 36; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21
God’s
“desire” to have a personal, loving relationship with each one of us is really
a great Love Story! We hear three expressions of that love in the Readings
today.
But first
we hear about the disintegration and destruction of the kingdom of Judah, and
their exile into a foreign land.
Scripture is very clear on this point: both the leaders and the people performed outrageous and scandalous
actions in the sight of the Lord. We
are tempted to say, “Shame on you, old
Israel.” But then we look at our
own country, and the way that folks who “claim” to be Christian support the
outrageous and scandalous actions of their leaders! Here is the disturbing question: as a nation, have we permitted
our political and judicial leaders to dismantle the moral fabric of our nation,
all the way from abortion, to sexual immorality, to economic greed at the
expense of the poor?
Fortunately,
we have a God who never gives up on us!
He is always calling us back into his loving embrace. We heard in the 1st Reading that
he constantly sends messengers; now it is up to us to listen to those messengers.
The message is right there in Holy Scripture; the messengers are the
Bishops especially, but also the priests, deacons, and any lay person who
passes on God’s truth about proper moral behavior that accords with God’s will. The primary role of Parents as the first
teachers of their children becomes critical
at this point.
We need
the gift of Faith to believe in what God teaches us through the successors to the apostles, meaning the Magisterium of
the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
God is so serious about this
love relationship with Him, that He sent us His only Son to teach us how to
love! He expressed that love in the
ultimate way. (Gesture to crucifix) His only Son freely accepted horrible
suffering for us, and even died for us!
Listen
again to those words of Jesus to Nicodemus: “Yes,
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…the light came into the world…(but)
Everyone who practices evil hates the light…” This gift of love is why St. Paul praises the mercy of God so
strongly, in our 2nd Reading.
He stood in awe at the incredible mercy of God, who will forgive even the most horrible of sins, if the
sinner will only repent.
When we
see the way that our Pagan society and culture is going downhill, it can be
difficult not to become pessimistic.
But then we need to look at how St. Paul handled his own situation,
because he was literally surrounded
by a worldwide pagan culture – one that St. John characterizes as a world of
darkness! But St. Paul never despaired. He knew that the only answer was Jesus Christ, and the Truth that Jesus taught – the
Truth that was passed on to his Apostles, who then passed it on to our Bishops.
John
knew, and Paul knew, that the Lord wants people to come to the light, and avoid
deeds of darkness. So how do we react
to our pagan society today? The same
way that Paul and John did: one person at a time! We must speak the truth, teach the truth, and live the truth,
rejecting the immoral ways of our pagan culture. Parents need to make sure that they themselves are solidly grounded in the Teachings of our
Bishops; and then they must pass forward
that foundation to their children. [If you need more education in Holy
Scripture, I invite you to consider registering for the Archdiocesan Catholic
Bible School that is being hosted right here at Mary Our Queen parish,
beginning this Fall.]
This is
the Season of Lent. God is asking us to
repent of any contributions that we have made to the darkness, to the
gross injustice going on all around us.
The Good
News is that God’s mercy is endless!
But it requires on our part that we “take the cure” for the “snakebite”
that has infected so many of us. If we
have created scandal by our support of folks who support evil, then we are not carrying out our mission as baptized
Christians. The “cure” is living out
our faith in Jesus, faith in his teachings, faith in the Tradition passed on to
us from the Apostles through our Bishops.
And remember, God’s gracious mercy is endless, for those who
repent! That is what the Sacrament of
Reconciliation is all about.
Every day
must be lived as if it is the last day of our life. We all need to grow on our Faith journey, and especially to
reflect on how we have carried out our
own role in spreading the Good News.
(Gesture to crucifix) This is the sign of our
salvation. Remember his great love for
us! The reminder of Lent is simple:
imitate him; live and love accordingly!
(+)
Mary Our
Queen Parish, Omaha