Saved by Love: The Fourth Sunday of Lent, 2024

                                                             Saved by Love:

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, 2024 

March 10, 2024

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2 Chronicles 36:14-23; Psalm 137; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21

 

The Church refers to today as Rejoice Sunday because we are more than halfway through Lent, and the news of the First Reading brings us hope. In the Chronicles, the story is told of the punishment of the Jews because they did not honor God’s name and they ridiculed those who spoke ill of God or of God’s Law. Their punishment sent them to Babylon, modern day Iraq, as captives, and as a people who were far removed from their liturgical customs. The happy part of the story is that King Cyrus of Persian, modern day Iran, liberated the Jews and helped them return from exile to Jerusalem, where they could rebuild their Temple and set up their sacrificial acts that would please God.

 

The Gospel gives us the reasons for our rejoicing – that God has loved us into being and has given us his Son to save us from ourselves. God has made a definitive statement to bring us closer through our knowledge of God. The reading by Paul in Ephesians tells us that we have been saved by God’s grace. That means that this grace is accessible to us, and through it, we are raised up to new heights. St. Paul reminds us that this is a gift for all who want to receive it. Some choose other ways, but for a believer, we simply must thank God for this generous offer.

 

Pope Francis writes that the sign and symbol of a Christian is a smile. The smile indicates that one believes in the power of the Resurrection and is aware of the great event God has done for us. When we trust in God’s rule, we cease to have fears, insecurities, and tendencies that cause us to feel crushed by society. We know that the power of love is stronger than any other force in the university, and if God has our back, then nothing can derail us from our certitude.

 

Since a Christian is saved by God, does one need the church? If I’m already saved, then why do I bother? When a Christian is called by God, one is naturally called into the community of the friends of Jesus. Salvation depends upon the community. We cannot go it alone. Even if we come to church and do not interact with anyone, we are still an important part. Even those people who are done with the church are still part of the community of faith. The church is those who are baptized, and we are all called to live in response to God’s love, even for those who cannot tolerate church behaviors. Theirs is still an important voice to be sought out and a story to be heard.

 

The Christian is to one who receives the mercy of God and can give that same type of mercy to others. When God chose to save the world, it was not because we merited it or that we belonged to a particular set of religious beliefs. It was because God’s love is magnanimous, and God cannot do anything else but love others into being. We exist, not just in relationship to God; we are brought naturally into relationship with others. We are called to love as much as we can the way God loves us. It is a love that is undeserved. No one deserves it, which is the reason we must receive it and then pass it forward to others. God’s love is perpetuated by our sharing it with those who likewise do not deserve it. We bring God’s love into places where love was not known, and we shine a brighter light because of it, and that brings about our happiness. We rejoice when we are able to share God’s love. We rejoice because it is the only thing we can do. We depend upon God and know that this love transforms the darkest corners of the world.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Isaiah 65) The Lord is about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered; there will always be rejoicing and happiness.

 

Tuesday: (Ezekiel 47) The angel brought the prophet to the entrance of the temple where life-giving water flowed forth and bringing life to all.

 

Wednesday: (Isaiah 49) The Lord finds favor with Israel and promises help on the day of salvation. The Lord will help Israel keep the commandments because He cannot forget her beauty.

 

Thursday: (2 Samuel 7) The Lord said to David: Your house shall endure forever; your throne shall stand firm forever.  

 

Friday: (Wisdom 2) The wicked said, “Let us beset the just one because he is obnoxious to us. Let us revile him and condemn him to a shameful death.” 

 

Saturday: (Jeremiah 11) Jeremiah knew their plot, but like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized they were hatching plots against him.   

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 4) Jesus returned to Galilee where he performed his first miracle. Some believed in him. A royal official approached him as his child lay dying, but at the hour Jesus spoke to him, his son recovered. 

 

Tuesday: (John 5) Jesus encountered an ill man lying next to a healing pool, but when the water is stirred up, no one is around to put him in. Jesus heals him and he walks away. The Jews protest that Jesus cured on the Sabbath. The Jews began to persecute Jesus. 

 

Wednesday: (John 5) Jesus explains that he is the unique revealer of God and cannot do anything on his own. He judges as he hears and his judgment is just because he does not seek his own will.

 

Thursday: (Matthew 1) The birth of Jesus came about through Mary, betrothed to Joseph. In his dream, the angel tells Joseph to take the pregnant Mary as his wife.

 

Friday: (John 7) Jesus did not wish to travel around Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him, but he went up during the feast of Tabernacles where he was spotted. He cried up in the streets, “You know me and you know where I am from.”

 

Saturday: (John 7) Some in the crowd said, “This is the prophet.” Some said, “This is the Christ.” A division occurred because of him because they could not settled how he fit into Scripture. Nicodemus interjected, “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” The crowd dispersed to their homes.

 

Saints of the Week

 

No Saints are celebrated in the calendar this week.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• March 10, 1615. The martyrdom in Glasgow, Scotland, of St John Ogilvie. 
• Mar 11, 1848. In Naples, Italy, during the 1848 revolution, 114 Jesuits, after much suffering, were put into carts and driven ignominiously out of the city and the kingdom. 
• March 12, 1622. Pope Gregory XV canonized Sts Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri. 
• March 13, 1568. John Segura and five companions set sail from Spain for Florida, a fertile field of martyrs. (Nine Jesuits were killed there between 1566 and 1571.) 
• March 14, 1535. Ignatius received his degree from the University of Paris. 
• March 15, 1632. The death of Diego Ruiz, a great theologian, who studied on his knees. 
• March 16, 1649. The martyrdom in Canada of St John de Brebeuf, apostle to the Huron Indians. Captured by the Iroquois along with some Christian Hurons, he endured horrible tortures.