26/03/2006 - 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT -
Year B
First Reading 2Chronicles 36:14-16; 19-23 Psalm
136/137
Second Reading Ephesians 2:4-10 Gospel John 3:14-21
"Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labour
and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God;
you shall not do any work - you, you son or your daughter, your male or female
slave, your livestock or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the
seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it"
(Ex. 20:8-11). This is the Third Commandment in the Bible, much detailed and
long. To help us keep it in mind, the Catechism gives this shorter version:
Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day!
Obedience to this precept ensured that the people of Israel would not disappear
in the coming millenniums, despite the grave difficulties and temptations to
which they were exposed. The command to observe the Sabbath was prophecy: the
Sabbath was, in fact, the waiting for the Messiah, the day of hope and the ardent
desire to be saved by Him! We've recognized the Messiah in Jesus on the day
of His Resurrection from the dead, the day after the Sabbath, and we welcomed
Him. The prophesy of the Sabbath, then, is already realized; this day has become,
for us, only a preparation of "the day of the Lord", which we celebrate,
not only by abstaining from work, which makes us think only of financial gain
and keeps us preoccupied with things of the earth, but also in memory of the
Death and Resurrection of Jesus! It is also the day in which we want the Lord's
greatest teachings to shine, the love we have for one another, in our families
and in our Christian communities.
Sin and salvation - that is the theme of today's Readings. Man, all men, commit
sin; God looks for ways to save them. Sin, in fact, is the beginning of death;
it draws the one who commits sin towards his own unhappiness, it renders him
a slave and degrades him until he is finally ruined. Man cannot save himself
from the whirlwind in which he falls, through sin; nor can he save others. It
is God who saves, because He loves His creatures, despite their disobedience.
In order to save them, God's interventions must lead them to changing their
behaviour - to conversion. Words are, always, not enough. At the time, the people
are so hardened in wrongdoing that they mock the Lord's prophets, and, so, God
feels like He must behave as a surgeon! This is the topic of the First Reading,
which interprets the deportation of the people to Babylon as a strong method
used by God so that He can make them return to Him and get back on the right
path of life.
Saint Paul notes that God's salvation is free; the salvation obtained for us
by the Lord Jesus. Death was already within us, because we are descendants of
Adam, a family of sinners who transmits to its children, the condition of moving
away from the Father. Yet, it was enough to faithfully glance towards Jesus
Christ to be saved. A new life entered within us, thanks to Jesus! The new life
is expressed with "good" works, those which bring to light the love
of the Father, the greatness of God!
At night, Jesus, too, speaks of the salvation and of the new life in His face-to-face
conversation with Nicodemus. Man, by himself, already lives an unhappy situation,
which we can call punishment, although he may not have committed any particular
offence: if he does not welcome Jesus, the Son of God, he is deprived of the
light and the beauty of a life totally committed to the Father, deprived of
communion and serenity, deprived of fullness and light. Even today, many are
like the Israelites bitten by the serpents in the desert: they are destined
to a life poisoned by selfishness, that selfishness which continues to generate
the fruits of death. Moses raised the serpent through God's command: he, who
through humble faith, would look at the copper serpent, would live. Now, the
Son of God raised Himself, and he, who looks at Him with humble faith, will
be heard by Him, will imitate His love and will love Him; he will walk a path
which will heal from selfishness and he will always have a better, and always
stronger, taste of life!
You too will realize that you begin to live when you begin to believe in Jesus,
when you welcome Jesus who was raised on the cross; even more, you will be His
companion on the path of life, which will cost you. He will give meaning to
your steps, to all that happens in your life, to every moment which, until now,
you did not understand and could not welcome. There will always be those who
hate the light and prefer to live in darkness, on the earth. They will cause
harm and remain hidden; they continue to raise the Son of God, without knowing
that they need Him. When they look at His Cross, with humble love; it is then
that they will come to the light, and will realize that they've arrived at the
truth: in joy, they will give their thanks, for having found the secure support
of their lives and the path to salvation; for their brothers, their loved ones
and all humanity, as well!