20240310 GOD’S EMBRACING MERCY
10 March 2024, Sunday, 4th Week of Lent (Laetare Sunday)
First reading |
2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 © |
God's wrath and mercy are revealed in the exile and release of his people
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.
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 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.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 136(137):1-6 © |
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!
Second reading |
Ephesians 2:4-10 © |
You have been saved through grace
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn3:16 |
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!
Gospel | John 3:14-21 © |
God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved
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.’
GOD’S EMBRACING MERCY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 CHR 36:14-16,19-23; EPH 2:4-10; JOHN 3:14-21]
Today we celebrate the 11th Anniversary of Pope Francis’ election. The one thing that strikes us in his pontificate is his conviction of the mercy of God and His compassion for all. Indeed, this is the thrust of Pope’s Francis’ pontificate – his desire to bring the gospel to all men and women. In his first encyclical, “The Joy of the Gospel”, he spelt out that the primary cause of conversion is our encounter with the mercy and love of God in Christ Jesus. This is the starting point and the reinforcement of his predecessor, Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, “God is Love”. That God’s mercy and love is the basis for the change of horizon of a person and his conversion is underscored in today’s liturgy for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday.
Conversion begins with the acknowledgement that we are sinners. The first reading recounts the infidelity of Israel. “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.” What is significant is that the entire People of God sinned against the Lord, including their leaders who allowed themselves to be secularized by the pagan culture and religions in their time. Perhaps we can see this also happening in our world today, when leaders, including religious leaders, imbibe the individualistic, a-moralistic and materialistic values of the world and seek to normalize what is contrary to the bible by justifying the current context of our days.
This will cause humanity to degenerate as they will lose respect for the sacredness of human life, for authentic loving relationships that are life-giving, faithful and fruitful, and caring for creation. Indeed, we must be wary of a society that is inward-looking, self-centred, pleasure-seeking, seeking power and fame as the ultimate of life; a humanity without a conscience. Israel as a nation was destroyed, “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.” We, too, in our world today, if we are not careful that individualism, consumerism and a narrow interpretation of nationalism will bring about division in society, hostile competition, suspicion and wars between and among nations. Instead of building bridges, collaboration and mutual understanding, we build walls of distrust, disseminating distorted and fake information about another country. We must pray that we will never arrive at this end when the world is destroyed by men, not by God!
Yet, we know that God is always merciful, even when man rejects God and suffer the consequences of his sins. He gives us the grace of conversion. He never stops to invite us to repent. Indeed, the history of Israel was but a history of infidelity and a history of grace. “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.” Yet God never gave up on His people. Before the coming of Christ, He sent Cyrus, a Persian king who was not a believer of the God of Israel to grant them passage to return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. The king was so generous in supporting Israel that in his mercy and inclusivity, even helped the Israelites to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem and its walls that were in ruins. Such is the mercy and love of God; without limits and without conditions. Later, when Israel again turned back to their sinful way of life, St Paul said, “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.” This is the climax of God’s love and mercy for us. Truly, this God we worship is a God of mercy and compassion. He wants us to share in His love and His life. 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.”
What is required for us to receive His love and mercy is to believe in Him. St Paul wrote, “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.” Indeed, salvation is not by our efforts. It begins by recognizing that God loves us and “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 God’s desire for us all live a good life, not as the world defines it but as God makes it out. It is a life of unselfish love, for God and for our fellowmen. It is an inclusive love for all, regardless of race, language, religion or nationality. The dignity of a person is rooted in the fact that he or she is God’s image and likeness; and therefore, we are called to protect the life of everyone, especially those who are vulnerable, defenceless and marginalized. War, Pope Francis says, is a crime against God and humanity.
However, when Pope Francis underscores that the Church must be one of mercy and compassion, and welcoming of everyone regardless of race, language, sexual orientation, state of life, nationality, it does not mean that inclusivity and welcoming all is tantamount to saying that those who come to the Lord can continue to live their life of individualism, self-centeredness, discrimination, violence and consumerism. On the contrary, when we say that all are welcome, we hope that those who encounter God’s love and mercy in and through the Church, will also be moved and be transformed in their way of life. It is a continuous call to greater faith in Him, encountering His mercy and conversion of life. If they know that God loves them truly and fully in Christ, we have every confidence that they will reform their lives to that of the gospel way of life and not conform to the world.
Conversion is not something that is imposed on us. Conversion cannot be the result of threats or even rewards. When we use threats, people might be converted because of fear. When the fear is removed or forgotten, they will go back to their old way of life. This is how some Catholics have been behaving, hence we do not see real conversion. They repent only out of the fear of going to hell. But today, many no longer believe in hell, and since there is no hell, there is no reason to live the gospel life. So, too, if we live a Christian life because of rewards, we can fall into this idea of merits. We become self-righteous and ego-centered. But the scripture says that salvation is not by merit but by grace, that is, the free and gracious love of God, and that no one can buy his or her salvation, the motive of doing good is no longer there. Unfortunately, the emphasis on grace without merit results in a complacent faith.
Real conversion is always the result of encountering God’s love and mercy. We are converted because we know that He loves us and wants the best for us. We obey His word not out of fear or seeking to win our salvation, but rather because we are convinced that this is the way to live our life and by so doing, we are saved. Primarily, it springs from the fact that because He loves us so much, we also want to return that life and be embraced by Him. This is why the Lord said, “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.” We know that Christ is the way to life and salvation. He comes to give us abundant life through His death on the cross and His resurrection.
Truly, the Lord said, “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.” In the final analysis, God does not condemn us; rather, our evil deeds condemn us. As the Lord said, “On these grounds is sentence pronounced, 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.” Our judgment of Him is the judgment we render to ourselves. God does not judge us. But in rejecting Him, we reject salvation and life. In accepting Him and His word, we live in truth and in love.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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