20220327 GOD THE RECONCILER
27 March, 2022, Sunday, 4th Week of Lent
First reading | Joshua 5:9-12 © |
The Israelites celebrate their first Passover in the Promised Land
The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you.’
The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onwards on what the land of Canaan yielded.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 33(34):2-7 © |
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Second reading |
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 © |
God reconciled himself to us through Christ
For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk15:18 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
I will leave this place and go to my father and say:
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.’
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel |
Luke 15:1-3,11-32 © |
The prodigal son
The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
GOD THE RECONCILER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Joshua 5:9-12; Ps 34:2-7; 2 Cor 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3,11-32]
Today, we celebrate Laetare Sunday. It is a day of rejoicing in the midst of an austere time during the season of Lent. As we are mid-way in the season of Lent, the Church wants to provide us the impetus to continue this journey like the Israelites so that we can reach the Promised Land. They too had a long journey, not forty days but forty years in the wilderness, purifying and strengthening themselves for their entry into the Promised Land. So too the Church wants us to continue persevering until we reach the Promised Land.
To help us strengthen our Lenten journey, the Church encourages us by keeping our eyes focused on the Promised Land just as Moses did with his people when they were lamenting and complaining in the desert due to the harsh conditions of living. This explains why all the three scripture readings carry the theme of hope, joy and celebration. In the first reading from the Book of Joshua, the Lord said, “Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day.” Indeed, the sign that they had entered the Promised Land was that the manna would stop falling and from then on, they would feed on the produce of the land they were about to occupy. In the second reading, St Paul declares, “For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here.” Anyone who is baptized in Christ is made a new creation for he has died to his self. St Paul wrote to the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:3f)
Finally, in the gospel, we have the Forgiving Father who said to the elder son, “your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” Truly it is a great day of rejoicing and celebration. That was why the Father told his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” Anyone who is born again in Christ, anyone who is a new creation, is cause for rejoicing. This is the consistent message of chapter 15 of Luke’s gospel, where he recounted three parables of being lost and being found, of which the Parable of the Prodigal Son is the climax of the three stories. Chapter 15 began with the Parable of the Lost Sheep. And when the sheep was found, the shepherd “calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” And the Lord remarked, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Lk 15:6f) This is followed by the Parable of the Lost Coin. The search for the lost coin was even more thorough and when she found it, “she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'” Our Lord added, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Lk 15:9f)
Yet the emphasis on repentance is not so much that the sinner seeks reconciliation but that God is the reconciler instead. This is made clear especially by St Paul in his address to the Corinthians. In his previous life, like the Jews, it was always presumed that reconciliation is the work of man and his initiative. It is man who seeks to be reconciled with God because he had sinned against Him. And so, man had to perform rituals and atonement sacrifices to appease God and find forgiveness from Him. It is man who takes the first step in reconciling with God by asking for forgiveness and offering an atonement sacrifice. (2 Mc 1:5; 7:33; 8:29)
However, after his encounter with the Lord at Damascus, he came to realize that it is the Lord who seeks reconciliation with us. He is the one who takes the initiative and He is the One who is the cause of our reconciliation. We do not begin the process of reconciliation. Hence, his message was, “It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation.” Indeed, the task of recreating us is the work of God, not our work. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph 2:8f)
That God is the One who reconciles us is the Good News. This is the reverse of pagan religions where it is man who seeks restoration of the god’s favour through sacrifices. It is hoped that the gods would then be appeased by the sacrifices and accept them. In St Paul’s message, the initiative is taken by God who changes our relationship with Him from one of enmity to one of friendship. God reaches out to man. This was accomplished by His death on the cross. (Rom 5:10) “In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them.” In announcing that God in Christ is the One who reconciles us to Himself, St Paul is underscoring Christ as the locus of salvation. He did this by assuming our humanity and taking upon our human weakness. Through the incarnation, Christ was made “in the likeness of sinful man.” (Rom 8:3) He takes our place as a substitute for our sins, paying for the price of our salvation. He is indeed our sin offering to God. Paul wrote, “For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.” Jesus was “stricken for the transgression of my people.” (Isa 53:8)
That God pursues sinners rather than sinners pursuing God is clearly underscored in the gospel. All the three parables, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son chose to be lost. The Prodigal Son story made it clear that he was the one who asked for his share of the Father’s estate even before his death. This was against the custom of those days. It was an arrogant request of his. (cf Sir 33:19-23) No Father would do what the loving Father did by not stopping his son from going his own way. Then having squandered all his money in wild, living with the untimely famine that took place, he was hungry and had to work for a gentile, feeding the swine. He could sink no lower than that for a Jew, as this was the most dishonourable job he could find. In fact, although employed, he was still hungry and we read that even the unclean animals were better off than him. Indeed, it shows how sins could strip a person of everything, dignity and relationships. He was totally lost and utterly alone.
The son then came to his realization and decided to go back to ask his Father to employ him as his servant. He would ask for forgiveness and rely on his Father’s mercy. The reaction of the Father is truly symbolic of our Heavenly Father. Even before he arrived home, it was the Father who went out of the house, “while he was still a long way off” to welcome him home. “His father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.” He cut short his confession before he could ask to be his servant. Instead, he called for a celebration for “this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.”
So the question that confronts us today is whether we are ready to accept the reconciliation of God, whether we are ready to accept His forgiveness, His grace which had already been won for us in Christ. It is significant that St Paul is not saying that he brings us reconciliation. His work as ambassador of Christ was to announce that Christ has already won our salvation and made reparation. But will we be ready to accept the justice of God which is His forgiveness? Or will we be like the elder son in the gospel who refused to celebrate with the Father because he sought justice in human terms rather than the mercy of God. He felt that salvation is something which one must earn and not freely given. He told his Father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends.” So the irony is that whilst the younger son was welcomed back into the house, the elder son remained outside. What about us? What is our decision?
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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