4th Sunday in Lent
Readings of the day: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
“For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Are these not some of the most beautiful and memorable words in our entire Bible? What a testament to God’s mercy: “He gave us his only Son.” God has given us “eternal life”! How frequently have we heard or seen references to these words, from John 3:16, in our popular culture? Those of us who enjoy watching sports like I do have probably seen references to John 3:16 often at sporting events. Is this not so much a part of our culture that we see “John 3:16,” or simply “3:16,” and many if not most of us know exactly what this means? What makes this verse so memorable; so influential even in our culture that is far from uniformly Christian, let alone religious?
“3:16”… This verse from John’s Gospel speaks to us of profound joy. What or who is the source of our joy? Our joy is deeper than our favorite football team scoring a last-minute winning touchdown; fans displaying “3:16” on banners while the victorious players show “3:16” outlined in their eye black.
“For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the source of our great joy. That “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son,” Jesus Christ, is the most profound act of God’s mercy our world has ever known and will ever know.
But that God has given us “his only Son” to live as one of us, to die for us, to rise and to ascend to heaven for us, one day to return in glory for us, and to be with us now in the sacrament of the Eucharist, is not a surprise to us. God’s gift to us of Jesus Christ is the high point of God’s ongoing work of mercy toward us from the first moment of creation until now. We celebrate and rejoice in this mercy of God. And our joy in God’s mercy toward us is at the heart of another Biblical verse, perhaps less famous than John 3:16 but still beautiful, with which I greeted us at the beginning of this Eucharistic celebration. Our Entrance Antiphon from the prophet Isaiah is this: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her! Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast”! “Laetare Jerusalem,” this verse begins in Latin. And so we call this Laetare Sunday; Lent’s “Rejoice” Sunday. We wear rose (not pink!), the color of joy, on this Laetare Sunday. And yet why do we rejoice? Why “laetare”?
3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.” And this is only the high point of God’s mercy, which has been with us since the beginning; by which we exist; by which we have pardon for our sins; by which we are able to pardon one another for their sins against us; by which we “have eternal life.” Let us rejoice in God’s mercy!
Are we somehow worthy of God’s love; God’s mercy? Of course not! Our readings today are clear on this. “The light,” Jesus, “came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil,” John’s Gospel says. Many today continue to prefer “darkness to light”; continue to do “evil.” Our world knows the evils of extremism; of persecution of people because of their faith by groups like ISIS; Boko Haram in Nigeria; Al Qaeda. Our world and our nation know assaults against human dignity and the human right to life from conception to natural death. We know, right here in our city and parish, poverty and hunger. Subtler still but nonetheless damaging, we know political partisanship; gossip; division and breakdown of friendships; of families. And yet, in the face of all this, God’s mercy is still present; still greater than any human evil.
The second Book of Chronicles recounts how the people, from “the princes of Judah” to “the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity.” Yet even this did not stop God’s mercy. Yes, the people of Old Testament Israel, who had been unfaithful to God and unjust among themselves, suffered exile for their sins. But even this seventy-year exile in Babylon is seen as evidence of God’s mercy; a time to allow the land to rest while the people did penance. 2 Chronicles speaks of a time when God’s people did evil, but when God’s mercy proved greater than any and all human evil. The same could be said of our time: God’s mercy is still present; still greater than any human evil.
And so let us rejoice in God’s mercy and not grow discouraged. Many of us (rightly, I think) lament the evil in our world. I hear somewhat constantly, here at St. Kateri and beyond: “Father, there is so much evil; so much violence; so much persecution in our world. What are we to do about it”? I believe that just to ask these kinds of questions, to pray over them, is itself a mark on us of God’s mercy. This compassion is evidence of people who live “in the light.” All of us who share in this way in the passion and death of Christ; who suffer because our fellow human beings suffer and who have genuine mercy for them: I am confident that you will also share in the resurrection of Christ in a special way.
Rejoice in God’s mercy! Rejoice, all of us who live God’s mercy as well as we are able! “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.” God so loves our world that is so far from perfect; so in need of God’s mercy, today perhaps more than ever. And we are the presence of God in our world. We are God’s mercy in action, called to live God’s mercy with joy in our world.
To anybody has ever despaired of God’s mercy, I ask: How well do we hear and believe in the words of the Letter to the Ephesians; of our second reading today: “God… is rich in mercy”? God is merciful, not because of our own “works”; our own merits but purely by God’s gift to us. “Even when we were dead in our transgressions,” God “brought us to life with Christ… raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.” These are remarkable words; confident words from Ephesians.
May we never despair of God’s mercy! May we seek God’s mercy in one another; in prayer; in our Church; through our Eucharist; in Reconciliation; in the Anointing of the Sick and our Church’s other sacraments; through our celebration of Lent. Let our poverty; our sin meet and be conquered by God’s love; God’s rich mercy. May we live God’s mercy; rejoice in God’s mercy! Why rejoice in God’s mercy, even as we live by it?
3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God’s mercy is our cause for rejoicing; our cause for this Laetare Sunday; “Rejoice” Sunday. By God’s mercy we have the gift; the presence of Jesus Christ here in this celebration; here in our world. And so we bear Christ to our world with confidence. We reflect God’s mercy in living our Christian faith. By God’s rich mercy, in and through Christ, we “have eternal life.” This is why we rejoice.
Are these not some of the most beautiful and memorable words in our entire Bible? What a testament to God’s mercy: “He gave us his only Son.” God has given us “eternal life”! How frequently have we heard or seen references to these words, from John 3:16, in our popular culture? Those of us who enjoy watching sports like I do have probably seen references to John 3:16 often at sporting events. Is this not so much a part of our culture that we see “John 3:16,” or simply “3:16,” and many if not most of us know exactly what this means? What makes this verse so memorable; so influential even in our culture that is far from uniformly Christian, let alone religious?
“3:16”… This verse from John’s Gospel speaks to us of profound joy. What or who is the source of our joy? Our joy is deeper than our favorite football team scoring a last-minute winning touchdown; fans displaying “3:16” on banners while the victorious players show “3:16” outlined in their eye black.
“For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is the source of our great joy. That “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son,” Jesus Christ, is the most profound act of God’s mercy our world has ever known and will ever know.
But that God has given us “his only Son” to live as one of us, to die for us, to rise and to ascend to heaven for us, one day to return in glory for us, and to be with us now in the sacrament of the Eucharist, is not a surprise to us. God’s gift to us of Jesus Christ is the high point of God’s ongoing work of mercy toward us from the first moment of creation until now. We celebrate and rejoice in this mercy of God. And our joy in God’s mercy toward us is at the heart of another Biblical verse, perhaps less famous than John 3:16 but still beautiful, with which I greeted us at the beginning of this Eucharistic celebration. Our Entrance Antiphon from the prophet Isaiah is this: “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her! Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast”! “Laetare Jerusalem,” this verse begins in Latin. And so we call this Laetare Sunday; Lent’s “Rejoice” Sunday. We wear rose (not pink!), the color of joy, on this Laetare Sunday. And yet why do we rejoice? Why “laetare”?
3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.” And this is only the high point of God’s mercy, which has been with us since the beginning; by which we exist; by which we have pardon for our sins; by which we are able to pardon one another for their sins against us; by which we “have eternal life.” Let us rejoice in God’s mercy!
Are we somehow worthy of God’s love; God’s mercy? Of course not! Our readings today are clear on this. “The light,” Jesus, “came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil,” John’s Gospel says. Many today continue to prefer “darkness to light”; continue to do “evil.” Our world knows the evils of extremism; of persecution of people because of their faith by groups like ISIS; Boko Haram in Nigeria; Al Qaeda. Our world and our nation know assaults against human dignity and the human right to life from conception to natural death. We know, right here in our city and parish, poverty and hunger. Subtler still but nonetheless damaging, we know political partisanship; gossip; division and breakdown of friendships; of families. And yet, in the face of all this, God’s mercy is still present; still greater than any human evil.
The second Book of Chronicles recounts how the people, from “the princes of Judah” to “the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity.” Yet even this did not stop God’s mercy. Yes, the people of Old Testament Israel, who had been unfaithful to God and unjust among themselves, suffered exile for their sins. But even this seventy-year exile in Babylon is seen as evidence of God’s mercy; a time to allow the land to rest while the people did penance. 2 Chronicles speaks of a time when God’s people did evil, but when God’s mercy proved greater than any and all human evil. The same could be said of our time: God’s mercy is still present; still greater than any human evil.
And so let us rejoice in God’s mercy and not grow discouraged. Many of us (rightly, I think) lament the evil in our world. I hear somewhat constantly, here at St. Kateri and beyond: “Father, there is so much evil; so much violence; so much persecution in our world. What are we to do about it”? I believe that just to ask these kinds of questions, to pray over them, is itself a mark on us of God’s mercy. This compassion is evidence of people who live “in the light.” All of us who share in this way in the passion and death of Christ; who suffer because our fellow human beings suffer and who have genuine mercy for them: I am confident that you will also share in the resurrection of Christ in a special way.
Rejoice in God’s mercy! Rejoice, all of us who live God’s mercy as well as we are able! “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.” God so loves our world that is so far from perfect; so in need of God’s mercy, today perhaps more than ever. And we are the presence of God in our world. We are God’s mercy in action, called to live God’s mercy with joy in our world.
To anybody has ever despaired of God’s mercy, I ask: How well do we hear and believe in the words of the Letter to the Ephesians; of our second reading today: “God… is rich in mercy”? God is merciful, not because of our own “works”; our own merits but purely by God’s gift to us. “Even when we were dead in our transgressions,” God “brought us to life with Christ… raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.” These are remarkable words; confident words from Ephesians.
May we never despair of God’s mercy! May we seek God’s mercy in one another; in prayer; in our Church; through our Eucharist; in Reconciliation; in the Anointing of the Sick and our Church’s other sacraments; through our celebration of Lent. Let our poverty; our sin meet and be conquered by God’s love; God’s rich mercy. May we live God’s mercy; rejoice in God’s mercy! Why rejoice in God’s mercy, even as we live by it?
3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God’s mercy is our cause for rejoicing; our cause for this Laetare Sunday; “Rejoice” Sunday. By God’s mercy we have the gift; the presence of Jesus Christ here in this celebration; here in our world. And so we bear Christ to our world with confidence. We reflect God’s mercy in living our Christian faith. By God’s rich mercy, in and through Christ, we “have eternal life.” This is why we rejoice.
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