FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT - YEAR B

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR B
(2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; John 3:14-21)

Theme: Our Journey from the Cross of Christ to the Bosom of God’s Love

Reflection

- To our surprise this fourth Sunday of Lent is named or celebrated as the “Sunday Laetare” or rejoicing Sunday: Sunday of Joy. This Sunday appears exactly in the centre of our Lenten preparation. Before this there were three Sundays and after this there will be three Sundays which includes also the fullness of Joy: Joy of Resurrection. The Church thus presents this central Sunday to be a ‘day of rejoicing’ amidst our intense preparations. It is for reminding us that we have successfully completed the half of our preparation on the one hand, and to boost us forward with refilled energy to fulfill the Lenten task ahead of us on the other hand. It is a day also for looking backwards with satisfaction of doing something worthy and for looking forward with responsibility of meeting the destiny of the Joy: the day of Resurrection. The Church also provides the alternative for the Sunday vesting of the celebrant. Usually for the whole period of lent the celebrant puts on violet but this Sunday there is also the option to put on ‘rose’ vestment for make the celebration little lively, joyful and thus giving little lightness to the intensity of the Lenten preparations. Though on one side we have the rigor to complete forty days of preparation with intense prayer, abstinence and charity, on other side, this Sunday helps us to sit back and examine how far we have come and to empower ourselves little more to continue our journey. This is the day of ‘reviewing’ of what we have done. This is the day also of ‘gathering up’ of energies to move forward. In the usual terminology, it is day of rest and rewind. Therefore, the celebration of this Sunday of Joy, give us both satisfaction for what has been done and the responsibility of completing it without looking back.
- Our Lenten journey, however, continues. Though we have one ‘liberal Sunday’ (if we might say this way), it is not to stop our journey. It is only to ‘take up again’ our journey after a while of rest. Therefore, today the Church by providing us today’s readings asks us to make our movement “from the Cross of Jesus to the Love of God”. Better that we understand how we have come to this movement. The whole Lenten preparation is a Journey towards meeting the Risen Jesus. With this we have actually started our journey and all the Sundays we were just making this pilgrimage from what is ours to what is God’s. In this connection, our journey of the first Sunday of the Lent was from the “desert of desperation to the garden of hope” which reminded us that we have to make a move from our life desert to the life of hope in the resurrection. Our journey of the second Sunday of Lent was from the “vision of transfiguration on the mount Tabor to the mission of glorification on the Calvary” which reminded us that we have to make a move from being transfigured in Christ to the participation in his glory. Our journey of the third Sunday of Lent was from the “writing down of the commandment of the Lord on mount Zion to the being of the temple of God” which reminded us that we have to make a move from just following of the Law of the Lord to the becoming of the indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord. We have come to this Sunday with the same inspiration of the Lenten journey and thus our movement today is from the “Cross of Christ to the Love of God” and this reminds us that we have to embrace the cross in which we see the ultimate love of God. This means that we do not remain just under the cross but arrive to the bosom of God’s love from which cross takes the great significance of “God’s ultimate self-revelation.” Once we arrive at this point of God’s love in and through the Cross we are ready to take up the cross and follow him until we also reach the same bosom of God’s love. Thus this journey demands both ‘self-denial’ and ‘taking up of the cross.’ This also means that we have to leave behind what belongs to us and to take up what belongs to God. In a word, it reminds us of our mission of the cross and mission of the cross is nothing but ‘carrying the cross for the love of God and love of neighbors.’

Limited Human being in front of Almighty God

- The questions arise here: how can this journey be ultimately possible from the cross of Christ to the Love of God? Is human being really limited? If so in what way and in which he is confined to? Who is man and what is man in facing God?
- Answers are still surprising possibilities: Indeed, this journey is possible from the cross of Christ to the love of God if only the man “knows” and “accepts” himself and his nature. Though his nature always transcends from the present to the future – with further developments of mind, reason and science – man has to know that he is still a finite being who is not in the condition of not knowing everything. There is a limit for his reasoning and understanding. He is blocked somewhere, somehow in his comprehension either psychologically or even physically where he has to meet death – a complete stop for his self-transcendence. From this self-knowledge of his limitedness he has to “accept” himself incapable. This is the inner struggle that man has always in himself: his capability to transcend himself and yet his incapacity to knowing everything. In this way and still more in facing God. Man is always finite being with the will of becoming infinite or mighty in his knowing and reaching God. This is the basic spiritually – experience of moving towards the unlimited One – that man has in his being. It is only a spiritual desire at the most because he is still limited and incapable in himself/by himself of reaching to the Almighty.
- Let us start our journey from Man: man is autonomous and self-transcending but towards what is the important question to be asked. The dignity of man is in his Intelligence, in his Freedom and in his capacity to Love. This is the ‘nature’ and ‘dignity’ of man. Whether this nature and dignity are manifested or not is a different question. Some remain indifferent and passive and take life as it comes without taking any risk themselves to develop. Some manifest this in achieving some ranks and positions in personal and social life. Some others manifest them all most perfectly and they become saints and great personalities of the world to be models for others. This shows that man is endowed with this capacity to transcend himself and reach to God by using his Intelligence, Freedom and Love. In fact, he is unlimited in these. This is something that is happening in the recent developments of technology and sciences. Then the question arises: If man is unlimited in his capacities where does the problem lie and in which he is incapable of reaching the Almighty? The answer is that man is incapable of utilizing them properly and for the good purpose.
o His intelligence is unlimited and goes beyond and beyond and it develops day by day so rapidly. There is doubt about it. But he is still limited and incapable of searching for the right and useful thing. The true intelligence discovers what is good not only for the self but for the others. Is this happening with the sciences and technology of modern age? Human brain is reaching to the sky in its thinking but the same human being is falling to ground surrounded by various clutches of daily living: hunger, thirst, poverty, class and race distinctions. Thus, man has the capacity in his nature of Intelligence but he is still limited in utilizing it properly and he is still incapable of choosing right thing or working for the common good of the world.
o His Freedom is unlimited and it is the nature of man that distinguishes from other beings. Man is free to do whatever he wills. He is endowed with this. There is no second thought about it. But still he is limited and incapable of growing with the other. He is incapable of knowing what the true freedom is. True Freedom is to live and make others live. Is this happening with the ultimate freedom of thought, word and deed that man enjoys? Man started doing whatever he wants in the name of freedom/liberty. On one hand, he tries to be on the peak of self with his freedom but on the other hand, he makes himself distant from others. Becoming distinct is positive but becoming distant is negative because in the prior man attracts the others and in the latter he rejects the others. This kind of enjoying freedom makes man selfish, proud, and leads him to elimination of himself form others or throwing out of other from his life. Is this true freedom? Thus, man has the capacity of enjoying ultimate freedom but he is still limited in proper use of it and thus man closes his door and lives for himself with his personal life. But this is not the true freedom. He is incapable of enjoying true freedom of reaching out to others and to be with and for others.
o His capacity to love is unlimited. Only man is the being of love. He has the capacity to offer his love others with intelligence and with freedom. He is gifted with this virtue of love. But he is still incapable of knowing and practicing an authentic love. He has not yet realized well his capacity to love and diffuse love to others. In what sense? Love has not confines. But man always tries to put boarders. He always makes his life confined to himself or to his own. He loves really his own and it is wonderful thing. Does he really love them is the question. Can he accept them in their freedom and in their intelligence without any prejudices? Can he reach out to them with whole-hearted will even at the sacrifice of his time, his energy and his capacity? True love contains this aspect of ‘donating oneself’ and offering of the self even at the cost of loosing oneself. Is this happening with growing intelligence and freedom? Man love only till if he is not disturbed in his personal free life. If this boundary is crossed he becomes arrogant and intolerable. Love consists in going beyond the self and in the total offer of the self for others. When this does not take place in the intelligent-free-closed system of present society how we can say that man is a loving being. He has the capacity but he is not in the ‘condition’ of living it properly. He is limited and incapable in this field of practice of love.
- If it happens like this in the sphere of ordinary society and in the ordinary living, man’s condition will be unimaginable in his confrontation with the Almighty God. He is utterly finite and limited being in front of God. He cannot, thus, by himself reach out to God. Though he has the capacity to reach beyond he is not able to reach it because he is limited in his intelligence with his indifference to others, is limited in his freedom with his selfishness, and is finally limited in his capacity to love with his pride and jealousy. Now what is the way out for him to reach God? God knows that with this condition man cannot reach him and for this reason He decided to come to man and to become man.

God in Search of Humanity

- Today’s reading are the best examples to show that God willed to be with humanity – “God with Us” and he comes down in search of this limited/finite being:
o “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place” (2 Chronicles 36:15 – first reading).
o “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:4-5 – second reading).
o “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16 – gospel reading).
- God never abandons his people: It is he who has chosen them in and through Abraham. It is he who made his covenant through Moses. And it is he who has led them back time and again when they have gone away from him through the prophets and made them one flock under the kings appointed by him. His people failed in their fidelity towards him but He never failed in his faithfulness to them. Such is a God of Israel. He always holds back for himself his people in spite of their disobedience and unfaithfulness.
- He makes himself present amidst them: he is so “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4) that he has come to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) like a “Good Shepherd” who leads his flock to the same fold by giving them the “abundant life” with the “laying down of his own life” (John 10:10-12). Such is a God of love who goes out to meet them and to make himself a presence with them and for them. He always calls his people by name so that they would accept this donation of life.
- He gives them all that he has – all his life and glory of His Son: his movement towards man is tremendous and unlimited. He has done this not to condemn man with judgment but to show the mercy. He shows the mercy in the manifestation of his unlimited love for man. This love is revealed in his Only Son Jesus Christ. This love has the consequence/fruit of giving life and life for eternity (John 3:16).
- Let us start our journey from God: Here we can find the Unlimited Wisdom, Ultimate Freedom and Unconditional Love of God for the humanity:
o His Wisdom, which goes beyond intelligence, is unlimited because God does not live for himself but he reaches out to the other and this other is human being. His intelligence is not selfish one for is completely utilized for creating, electing and redeeming man.
o His Freedom is ultimate. His is not conditioned to become man or to be with man. In his freedom he has chosen to make this movement towards man. He has bent himself to take the hand of man. He has made himself little and small (not in the sense of limitedness) so that he could be with this man. This is an act of ultimate freedom. He is not only for himself but for the man. In his freedom he does not want to close his door but to open the possibility so that he can reach man and man can also reach him.
o His Love is unconditional. We need not give so much explanation for this. We already experience this in “making himself servant and to die on the cross” (Phil 2:6-10) and thus “donating his life” for others (John 15:12-14). In the paschal event of Jesus, His Son, God’s unconditional love is manifested. He does not become arrogant or he does not become proud when he is rejected and misunderstood. He knows only one thing: to love. His only will is to offer himself to others. This is the love that is without measure.
- The Wisdom, Freedom and Love of God take their ultimate expression in the death of his Son on the Cross. This is the Wisdom that was hidden for the ages. This is the Freedom that makes God to decide to make himself closer/nearer to man. This is the Love that is revealed in pouring out his life for the man. Man’s condition is limited and thus God’s takes the initiative to enter into human history and thus the history of God and the history of Man have their meeting point in Jesus Christ.

Cross of Jesus Christ: Meeting Point of God and Man

- In the cross and in the Person of Jesus Christ God makes himself so down to earth (even to the under the earth with his stay there for three days) that he reaches to the core of human being. God meets man in his place of limitedness, sufferings and death. God touches the sphere of man. He leans so much to stand on the ground of man. With the cross He grounds himself in the very nature of man. This is the transcendental humility of God before man whom he loves unconditionally.
- In the cross and in the Person of Jesus Christ the way is laid and the door is opened for the man to reach God. He has no need of going anywhere. If he looks into himself he can see the God who is grounded there. He has not initiative to take. Everything is taken by God himself. He has to do only one thing: to touch his own self with true intelligence, with true freedom and with true love. This is the greatest commandment: to love your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength and with all your soul. Here, in this love, man has the possibility of meeting God.
- These two movements, God towards man and man towards God, meet in the very cross (+) of Christ. The pierced side is the centre of the cross and it is the meeting point of God and man: the very heart of Jesus Christ. The heart which is offered in sacrifice for whole humanity. Cross is thus no more a wooden beam but the very heart of Jesus which is broken open to pour out to man the ‘capacity’ to reach God with intelligence, freedom and love.
- It is for this reason we find an answer for every problem of our life in the cross of Jesus:
o If physically we are with the illness/sickness we can look at the cross of Jesus where his body is torn into pieces.
o If psychologically we are abandoned and isolated (left alone by the family or misunderstood, or rejected) we can look at the cross of Jesus where his cries reach out to heaven but with firm hope.
o If spiritually we are falling again and again into the temptations and into human fragility we can look at the cross of Jesus where amidst so much of ‘insults and questions of proving his image’ Jesus commends his spirit to his Father’s will rather than falling into the hands of the mockers.

Today’s Journey: from the Cross of Christ to the Love of God

- Thus, we are called today to make our journey to the love of God by imitating the cross of Christ. Not that we have leave behind us the cross but with it we have to enter into the bosom of God’s love.
- For this, to summarize in brief, we have to acknowledge our human limitedness, meditate on the love of God who has come in search of us – at this moment through his Word and his Eucharist - and finally accept the mission of the Cross. Mission of the Cross is not something to reflect on the passion and death of Jesus but to accept them and carry forward till we reach the day of resurrection: that is, the bosom of God’s ultimate love.