Sunday, March 10, 2024

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

(II Chronicles 16:14-16,19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21)

All of us recognize the gospel today. It contains perhaps the most revered verse in the entire Bible: “…God so loved the world that he gave it his only Son…” The words comfort us like when we hear our teacher say, “You are intelligent.” . But do we really believe that God loves us? Many do not, and for this reason they do not care whether they please God. They do whatever they like. Saint John Paul II said: “The first task of every Christian is to accept the love of God.” If we are to have a spiritual life that is truly Christian, we must take this principle to heart.

Because Jesus reveals the love of God, the gospel recognizes him as “the light of the world.” Light is so basic that Genesis says God made light on the first day of creation. Throughout the Bible we see the light doing at least two things. First, it fosters life. Although Bible times did not know about photosynthesis, they surely understood that plants do not grow without light. Animals live on plants, including human animals. The light of Jesus Christ goes beyond fostering physical life. It leads us to eternal life, which is endless happiness.

Light also allows us to see. The intense light in the surgery room allows surgeons to perform delicate operations. In a similar way, “the light of the world” enables us to know the truth of our existence. Loved by God, we are developing into His authentic daughters and sons. The light of truth teaches us how to prepare for eternal life.

Love cost God to allow his own son to be crucified. Love cost Jesus Christ to die in an atrocious way. And love is going to cost us too. When we love, we become vulnerable. We will spend our resources for the beloved. We remember Mother Teresa of Calcutta as one of the most loving people of our time. But she did not appear particularly beautiful. Mother Teresa spent her resources—her time and energy—on the poor. She didn't take time to go to the beauty salon.

We are also vulnerable because the beloved may reject our offers. The first reading tells the sad story of Israel rejecting God's offer to be his chosen people. The nation committed infidelities, imitated the vices of her neighbors, and even desecrated God’s Temple. You can see similar evils among Catholics today. Certainly the abuse of children by priests serves as a primary example. One can also mention the drop in worship at Sunday Mass and the cohabitation of unmarried couples.

The gospel emphasizes that Jesus does not condemn but saves. He has come not as a judge but as a teacher instructing how to truly love. Even more importantly, he has sacrificed his life to make us acceptable to God the Father. If we are condemned, we have condemned ourselves by preferring the lights of the world to the light of life and truth. In other words, we have imitated the world by loving ourselves rather than loving God and neighbor.  We have the rest of Lent to correct this error. If we find ourselves reluctant to fast, slow to pray, and lax in charity, we should double our efforts now. May these practices put us squarely in the light of Christ.

Friday, March 8. 2024

 Friday of the Third Week on Lent

(Hosea 14:2-10; Mark 12:28-34)

How do we love God with all our heart?  The heart is considered the source of desire.  We set our hearts on finding a good mate or having work that we enjoy and that provides a living.  We love God with all our heart when we seek Him above all else.  That is, we strive to develop a relationship with Him through prayer.

We love God with all our soul by always living in His light.  The soul is the principle of life.  It animates the body and carries on existence when we die until body and soul are reunited.  A soul that lives in God’s light always follows God’s will.  It will discern carefully what God wants and act resolutely to carry it out.

Loving God with our whole mind, we ponder what the Scriptures and the saints say about Him.  God is so great that no one’s mind can in any true sense know Him.  Yet we can come to an appreciation of His love and His will by study and reflection.

Often carrying out God’s will requires sacrifice.  Telling the truth when a small lie will save hundreds of dollars will make us feel and perhaps look foolish.  To do so may take all the strength, yet Jesus finds this necessary to fulfill the Law.

If we love God in these ways, we will be closer to Him than the scribe in today’s gospel.  Indeed, God will have already come to us.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 7:23-28; Luke 11:14-23)

In preparing for war, nations often demonize their enemies.  They strive to make enemies appear as less than civil, often as diabolical by telling negative stories about their characters.  When the U.S. mobilized against Iraq in 2003, Pictures were fabricated that made Saddam Hussein look like Adolph Hitler.  In World War I, the German invaders were depicted first as killing the French and Belgian civilians then as mutilating their women and children. 

In the gospel some people literally demonize Jesus.  They say that he casts out demons because he is in league with the prince of demons.  It is an ironic response, for sure, after Jesus does one of their neighbors a great service.  But, no doubt, these people are aware that accepting Jesus as one sent from God entails heeding his message of repentance.  And that requires both humility and effort. 

Perhaps many of us also are not ready to reform our lives.  After all, it will take concerted effort to stop criticizing others, to speak sincerely with adversaries, and to give generously to the needy.  But we can get beyond the stumbling blocks if we think about how much God loves us.  He has given us life and called us to be His children.  He will provide for us in death as well when we receive the full inheritance Jesus has won for us.

 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

The word ethos sounds like ethic.  The two words, no doubt, are derived from the same root.  But there is an important difference between them.  Where ethics refers to moral principles, ethos in addition to principles includes a people’s guiding beliefs and customs that are shaped by common stories.  Israel’s ethos is given in the “whole law” referred to in today’s first reading.  It is the torah, the first five books of the Bible, which prescribes in stories and laws how the “people of God” are to live.

In the gospel Jesus declares that the torah will remain in force for his community of disciples.  They must uphold the traditions of the patriarchs and of Moses who guided the people to holiness.  Most emphatically, they must guard against idols.  These whims of treacherous hearts would replace the living God, who loves and protects His people, with fraudulent desires.

We should not think that Jesus intends his disciples to follow the Jewish leadership in his day.  They (and we) are to be distinguished by sexual restraint, care for neighbor, and humility before God.  In these ways they become God’s people.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

(Daniel 3:25.34-43; Matthew 18:21-35)

It is not hard to forgive a person who keeps you waiting five minutes. “I’ve done the same thing,” the offended party will tell her/himself.  But if the offense is truly immense, forgiveness is much harder to grant.  In the movie “Dead Man Walking” a man cannot, at first, forgive his son’s murderer.  He says that he wants “strict justice (i.e., an eye for an eye…”).  As he is about to be executed, the killer asks the man’s forgiveness. It is tacitly given as the father attends the murderer’s funeral.

As difficult as it is to forgive in some cases, it is also hard for many people to ask forgiveness.  They might consider themselves better than those they offended.  Or perhaps they are worried that admission of guilt will cause loss of prestige or property.  Or they may not see their action toward the other as unjust.  People accused of crime should humbly consider their actions with the help of a wise counsellor.  Then, if they see themselves as guilty, they should straightforwardly seek forgiveness.

Acknowledging offenses and asking forgiveness is a universal challenge.  We all sin.  Doing so, we offend God, of course, but also harm others and ourselves.  We have the Sacrament of Reconciliation to make amends with the Lord.  Justice compels us to seek reconciliation with offended parties as well.