Monday, March 23, 2020

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4:43-54)

Yesterday rose vestments indicated that the tide of Lent has turned.  Today the readings more properly give an upbeat tone.  The first half of Lent necessarily stresses repentance and penance.  Sin roots itself deeply in people’s lives.  It takes serious effort to eradicate.  (Would that all our sinful tendencies be rooted out in less than four weeks!)  Now the people can sense Easter joy approaching like the scent of lilacs on trees.

In the first reading Third-Isaiah announces a new creation.  People will live long, robust lives.  Joy will characterize their activities.  God will accompany the people in their celebration.  In the gospel Jesus brings joy to a royal official by curing his son.  The passage follows Jesus visit to Samaria which itself comes after his encounter with Nicodemus.  A gradual revelation of the concept of life may be discerned in this succession.  Jesus had spoken to Nicodemus of a rebirth to new life.  Then he promised the Samaritan woman living water springing up to eternal life.  Now Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, restores health to a dying boy. 

We may see our lives growing similarly throughout this period of grace.  We heard of the promise of life as Lent began with Jesus overcoming the tempter’s wile.  We would likewise shun self-centeredness that delivers death in the long run.  Then we were given insights about our renewal in grace with the woman at the well.  Now, and more so this Sunday with the raising of Lazarus, we find ourselves glimpsing the dawn of Easter.  It is greater than any human existence.  It is the absolute fullness of life. 

Monday, April 1, 2019

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4:43-54)

Yesterday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, Church sometimes calls “Laetare Sunday.”  Most Catholics know that this term means rejoicing Sunday.  Mass celebrants, usually wearing pink or rose-colored vestments, explain that the Church rejoices because the time of penance is half-completed.  Pink, rather than the solemn purple, symbolizes the lighter spirit.

What is often overlooked, however, is the changed tone of the weekday mass readings after the fourth Sunday of Lent.  They no longer call for repentance and prayer; rather, they anticipate the fulfilment of God’s promises.  The spirit of coming fulfilment is readily seen in today’s first reading.  God tells the people that He is “about to create new heavens and a new earth.” The gospel actually tells a story of fulfilment.  Jesus saves the son of a Jewish royal official from imminent death.

We may look for signs of fulfilment in our own lives.  Hopefully our fasting has slimmed down our waistlines a bit.  However, if this were all the fulfilment we achieved, we have missed Lent’s purpose.  By now we should have developed a closer familiarity with the Lord.  Our conversation with him should be less tentative and more insightful.  We should feel and communicate to him our readiness to suffer with him.   If this is true, we will likely see positive developments in those around us.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

(Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4: 43-54)

The third part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah was composed after the Exile.  For years the people of Jerusalem suffered in a foreign land.  Now they are back home although their trials have not ended.  The prophet says, in effect, “Enough is enough,” and foretells a time of plenty.  The passage should reflect our Lenten experience to date. 

We have passed the watershed on our Lenten journey.  Hopefully, we have been freed of the attachments to material goods that keep us from loving as we should.  Now we can focus on Jesus’ promise of eternal life.

The gospel manifests the promise’s fulfillment.  Jesus challenges the royal official to trust in him.  As soon as he does, his request for the cure of his son is granted.  The passage emphasizes, however, more than recovered health.  Three times it speaks of the boy living.  It adds that the official’s whole household, obviously including the son, comes to believe.  Their lives will endure death to experience unimaginable dimensions of life.