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REJOICING IN GOD’S
MERCY
11 MARCH, 2018, Sunday, 4th Week of
Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Rose or Violet.
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First reading
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God's wrath and mercy are revealed in the exile and release of
his people
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All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too, added
infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and
defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in Jerusalem. The
Lord, the God of their ancestors, tirelessly sent them messenger after
messenger, since he wished to spare his people and his house. But they
ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his
prophets, until at last the wrath of the Lord rose so high against his people
that there was no further remedy.
They burned
down the Temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its
palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported
by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his sons until the
kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the word of the Lord was fulfilled
that he spoke through Jeremiah, ‘Until this land has enjoyed its sabbath rest,
until seventy years have gone by, it will keep sabbath throughout the days of
its desolation.’
And in the
first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord that was
spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to
issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom:
‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me
all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in
Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God
be with him! Let him go up.”’
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Responsorial Psalm
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O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember
you not!
By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember
you not!
For it was there that they asked us,
our captors, for songs,
our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said,
‘one of Zion’s songs.’
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember
you not!
O how could we sing
the song of the Lord
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember
you not!
O let my tongue
cleave to my mouth
if I remember you not,
if I prize not Jerusalem
above all my joys!
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember
you not!
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Second reading
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You were dead through your sins; you have been saved through
grace
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God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his
mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with
Christ – it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us
up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.
This was to
show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how
infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been
saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not
by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God’s
work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the
beginning he had meant us to live it.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved
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Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘The Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’
REJOICING IN GOD’S MERCY
Today, we pass the mid-term of the season of Lent.
As we enter into the fourth Sunday of Lent, the Church invites us to
rejoice. Hence, this Sunday is traditionally called Laetarae Sunday, the
Sunday of rejoicing. What is the cause of rejoicing that
seems to break the somber mood of the season of Lent? During the
last three weeks of Lent, the focus had been on penance, prayer, almsgiving and
mortification. However, it can lead to a wrong understanding of the Christian
Faith, as if we take joy in making people suffer inconvenience and be deprived
of the legitimate pleasures of life. The penitential
exercises are meant to help us come to a deeper interior prayer life so that we
can contemplate on the love and mercy of God. They are meant to clear the
way for the Lord’s love to enter into our hearts by helping us to see the
light. Christian faith is a joyful faith that comes from liberation from
sin.
Indeed, this was the case of the Israelites in the first reading. They
were unfaithful to the covenant and as a result brought disaster upon
themselves. “All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too,
added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the
nations and defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in
Jerusalem.” However, God in His mercy, “tirelessly sent them
messenger after messenger, since he wished to spare his people and his house.
But they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed
at his prophets, until at last the wrath of the Lord rose so high against his
people that there was no further remedy.” As a consequence, when
they refused to heed God’s warning of destruction and continued with their
immoral and sinful lives, God allowed the consequences of their sins to take
place. Judgement followed. “Their enemies burned down the Temple of
God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and
destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar
to Babylon; they were to serve him and his sons.” They lost the kingship,
the kingdom and the Temple.
Even in our sinfulness, God continues to show His mercy. Indeed,
even His judgement and punishment of our sins is an act of mercy.
If God allowed Israel to be punished by foreign powers, it was in order that
they come to their senses and return to God and the Covenant. Punishment
and suffering are the means by which God disciplines us. God acts like a
paternal father who disciplines His wayward children. Instead of thinking
that God does not care for us or has abandoned us in our sufferings, we should
take such periods of suffering as the Lord inviting us to reflect on our lives,
our mistakes and learn from them. Indeed, this is done in order to help
us repent of our sins and walk in the truth. Even in our sufferings, the
Lord gives us hope. This was true for the Israelites who disobeyed God
when they were in the desert, grumbling against Him until God sent the serpents
to bite them to death. They were taught a lesson by the Lord not to
lament all the time but to be contented with what they had. They
had no reason to complain as they were given sufficient food.
However, when they repented, God told Moses to tell the people to look
at the bronze serpent erected on the pole for healing.
By looking at their sins, they came to realize God’s mercy and love for them,
which they took for granted. So too for the Israelites in
exile. When 70 years had passed, God roused up “the spirit of Cyrus king
of Persia to issue a proclamation” to invite the Israelites to return to their
homeland and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Indeed, the mercy and love
of God is boundless and wise. That a pagan king would grant them
permission and even help them financially to rebuild their kingdom and temple
was something beyond their imagination.
Nevertheless, the wondrous mercy of the Lord does not
stop here. His love and mercy extends not just to the Israelites but
also to the whole world. This is what St John and St Paul proclaimed in
today’s scripture readings. St John wrote, “God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn
the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” God
loves the world and all in it. His love is not confined just to the
Israelites but for all. God cares for humanity, our sufferings, our
pains, the divisions and wars caused by selfishness in humanity.
He sent us His only Son so that the world might come to know His love
and mercy. Jesus’ death on the cross is a reminder
of God’s unconditional and total giving love. It is the utter giving of
God and truly the expression of God’s mercy for us. In Christ, God our
Father suffers with us in our sinfulness and misery. The passion and
death of our Lord reveals to us the infinite limits of God’s love.
Christ comes not to condemn the world but to show the world the
light. He comes to show us the way to love and to find fullness of
life. That is why the Lord said, “No one who believes in him will
be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he
has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is
sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world.”
Rejection of Christ is to reject the light and the truth of love.
If that were the case, it would not be God who rejects us or causes us to
suffer. Rather, we choose to live in darkness and in evil. Indeed,
the Lord warns us that “men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the
light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who
lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen
that what he does is done in God.” By refusing to accept the light
because of fear and selfishness, we prevent the grace of God from entering into
our lives. It is our sins that prevent us from seeing the light, just
like a man with a pair of dirty spectacles is unable to see the light
clearly. We need to recognize our sinfulness and our inadequacies so that
we can surrender ourselves to the light and to His love.
God invites us to repent, not through force but through grace. He
wants us to repent not out of fear but out of love.
This is the same appeal of St Paul when he exhorted the people to
conversion. “God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his
mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ –
it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us up with him and
gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.” By reflecting and
contemplating on the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, we will find
the strength to give up our sins and live the new life of grace by walking in
the light. As we follow Him in death by giving up our lives for our
fellowmen, we too will come to share in His light and love. And this
power is given to us when Jesus is raised from death, enabling Him to bestow on
us the power of His spirit to do what He did.
So what is necessary today is that we have faith in His love and mercy,
not on our own strength. St Paul wrote, “This was to show
for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how
infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been
saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not
by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are
God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the
beginning he had meant us to live it.” It is purely the grace of God
through faith in Him and in the power of His Spirit that we are able to be
saved and to do good. It is a gift from God, not something we earn or
merit.
This is the heart of the gospel message. God intends for us
happiness and He forgives us our sins through His grace received by
faith. All that is needed for us is to cling
to His love and mercy as we continue to contemplate on His face in His passion
and resurrection. This is the reason for our rejoicing because of
the hope that is promised to us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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