March, 2018

The Holy Father's Prayer Intention

Formation in Spiritual Discernment: That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare)

Commentary of the day
Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Bishop of Geneva and Doctor of the Church
Collected Works vol.10 (in ‘The Book of the Four Loves,’ Annecy edition)

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son”

Could God not supply the world with any other remedy than that of the death of his Son?… Most certainly. And he was able to redeem us by a thousand other means than the death of his Son. But he did not wish to because what was sufficient for our salvation was not so for satisfying his love. And to show us how much he loved us this divine Son died from the most harsh and ignominious of deaths as that of the cross.

What remains, then, and what consequence can we draw from this if not that, since he died for love of us, we too should die for love of him, or, if we are unable to die for love, at least we should not live otherwise than for him?… This is what the great Saint Augustine lamented about: “Lord,” he said, “is it possible someone should know you died for their sake and not live for you?” And that great lover, Saint Francis, used to say with sobs: “Ah, you died for love and no one loves you in return!”…

There is no other redemption but by this cross. O my God, how useful and what profit it is for us to contemplate the cross and Passion! Is it possible to contemplate this humility of our Savior without becoming humble and loving humiliations? Can anyone see his obedience without being obedient? No indeed, none has ever looked at our crucified Savior and remained dead or sick. And on the other hand, all those who die do so because they refuse to look at him, like those among the children of Israel who did not wish to look at the serpent Moses caused to be set up on the pillar.

When people love and recite the Rosary they find it makes them better.

~St. Anthony Mary Claret

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)

"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
(Lk 1:42).

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 3
14.	And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up:	Et sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis :	και καθως μωσης υψωσεν τον οφιν εν τη ερημω ουτως υψωθηναι δει τον υιον του ανθρωπου
15.	That whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting.	ut omnis qui credit in ipsum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.	ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον
16.	For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.	Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret : ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.	ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον
17.	For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him.	Non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut judicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum.	ου γαρ απεστειλεν ο θεος τον υιον αυτου εις τον κοσμον ινα κρινη τον κοσμον αλλ ινα σωθη ο κοσμος δι αυτου
18.	He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God.	Qui credit in eum, non judicatur ; qui autem non credit, jam judicatus est : quia non credit in nomine unigeniti Filii Dei.	ο πιστευων εις αυτον ου κρινεται ο δε μη πιστευων ηδη κεκριται οτι μη πεπιστευκεν εις το ονομα του μονογενους υιου του θεου
19.	And this is the judgment: because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil.	Hoc est autem judicium : quia lux venit in mundum, et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras quam lucem : erant enim eorum mala opera.	αυτη δε εστιν η κρισις οτι το φως εληλυθεν εις τον κοσμον και ηγαπησαν οι ανθρωποι μαλλον το σκοτος η το φως ην γαρ πονηρα αυτων τα εργα
20.	For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved.	Omnis enim qui male agit, odit lucem, et non venit ad lucem, ut non arguantur opera ejus :	πας γαρ ο φαυλα πρασσων μισει το φως και ουκ ερχεται προς το φως ινα μη ελεγχθη τα εργα αυτου
21.	But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God.	qui autem facit veritatem, venit ad lucem, ut manifestentur opera ejus, quia in Deo sunt facta.	ο δε ποιων την αληθειαν ερχεται προς το φως ινα φανερωθη αυτου τα εργα οτι εν θεω εστιν ειργασμενα

14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15. That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

CHRYS. Having made mention of the gift of baptism, He proceeds to the source of it, i.e. the cross: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.

BEDE; He introduces the teacher of the Mosaic law, to the spiritual sense of that law; by a passage from the Old Testament history, which was intended to be a figure of His Passion, and of man's salvation.

AUG. Many dying in the wilderness from the attack of the serpents, Moses, by commandment of the Lord, lifted up a brazen serpent and those who looked upon it were immediately healed. The lifting up of the serpent is the death of Christ; the cause, by a certain mode of construction, being put for the effect. The serpent was the cause of death, inasmuch as he persuaded man into that sin, by which he merited death. Our Lord, however, did not transfer sin, i.e. the poison of the serpent, to his flesh, but death; in order that in the likeness of sinful flesh, there might be punishment without sin, by virtue of which sinful flesh might be delivered both from punishment and from sin.

THEOPHYL. See then the aptness of the figure. The figure of the serpent has the appearance of the beast, but not its poison: in the same way Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, being free from sin. By Christ's being lifted up, understand His being suspended on high, by which suspension He sanctified the air, even as He had sanctified the earth by walking upon it. Herein too is typified the glory of Christ: for the height of the cross was made His glory for in that He submitted to be judged, He judged the prince of this world; for Adam died justly, because he sinned; out Lord unjustly, because He did no sin. So He overcame him, who delivered Him over to death, and thus delivered Adam from death. And in this the devil found himself vanquished, that he could not upon the cross torment our Lord into hating His murderers: but only made Him love and pray for them the more. In this way the cross of Christ was made His lifting up, and glory.

CHRYS. Wherefore He does not say, The Son of man must be suspended, but lifted up, a more honorable term, but coming near the figure. He uses the figure to show that the old dispensation is akin to the new, and to show on His hearers' account that He suffered voluntarily; and that His death issued in life.

AUG. As then formerly he who looked to the serpent that was lifted up, was healed of its poison, and saved from death; so now he who is conformed to the likeness of Christ's death by faith and the grace of baptism, is delivered both from sin by justification, and from death by the resurrection: as He Himself said; That whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What need then is there that the child should be conformed by baptism to the death of Christ, if he be not altogether tainted by the poisonous bite of the serpent?

CHRYS. Observe; He alludes to the Passion obscurely, in consideration to His hearer; but the fruit of the Passion He unfolds plainly; viz. that they who believe in the Crucified One should not perish. And if they who believe in the Crucified live, much more shall the Crucified One Himself.

AUG. But there is this difference between the figure and the reality, that the one recovered from temporal death, the other from eternal.

16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believes in him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

CHRYS. Having said, Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, alluding to His death; lest His hearer should be cast down by His words, forming some human notion of Him, and thinking of His death as an evil, He corrects this by saying, that He who was given up to death was the Son of God, and that His death would be the source of life eternal; So God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; as if He said, Marvel not that I must be lifted up, that you may be saved: for so it seems good to the Father, who has so loved you, that He has given His Son to suffer for ungrateful and careless servants. The text, God so loved the world, shows intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. He who is without end, or beginning of existence, Infinite Greatness, loved those who were of earth and ashes, creatures laden with sins innumerable. And the act which springs from the love is equally indicative of its vastness. For God gave not a servant, or an Angel, or an Archangel, but His Son. Again, had He had many sons, and given one, this would have been a very great gift; but now He has given His Only Begotten Son.

HILARY; If it were only a creature given up for the sake of a creature, such a poor and insignificant loss were no great evidence of love. They must be precious things which prove our love, great things must evidence its greatness. God, in love to the world, gave His Son, not an adopted Son, but His own, even His Only Begotten. Here is proper Sonship, birth, truth: no creation, no adoption, no lie: here is the test of love and charity, that God sent His own and only begotten Son to save the world.

THEOPHYL As He said above, that the Son of man came down from heaven, not meaning that His flesh did come down from heaven, on account of the unity of person in Christ, attributing to man what belonged to God: so now conversely what belongs to man, he assigns to God the Word. The Son of God was impassible; but being one in respect of person with man who was passable, the Son is said to be given up to death, inasmuch as He truly suffered, not in His own nature, but in His own flesh. From this death follows an exceeding great and incomprehensible benefit: viz. that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Old Testament promised to those who obey obeyed it, length of days: the Gospel promises life eternal, and imperishable.

BEDE; Note here, that the same which he before said of the Son of man, lifted up on the cross, he repeats of the only begotten Son of God: viz. That whosoever believes in Him, &c. For the same our Maker and Redeemer, who was Son of God before the world was, was made at the end of the world the Son of man; so that He who by the power of His Godhead had created us to enjoy the happiness of an endless life, the same restored us to the life we have lost by taking our human frailty upon Him.

ALCUIN. Truly through the Son of God shall the world have life; for no other cause came He into the world, except to save the world. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

AUG. For why is He called the Savior of the world, but because He saves the world? The physician, so far as his will is concerned, heals the sick. If the sick despises or will not observe the directions of the physician, he destroys himself.

CHRYS. Because however He says this, slothful men in the multitude of their sins, and excess of carelessness, abuse God's mercy, and say, There is no hell, no punishment; God remits us all our sins. But let us remember, that there are two advents of Christ; one past, the other to come. The former was, not to judge but to pardon us: the latter will be, not to pardon but to judge us. It is of the former that He says, I have not come to judge the world. Because He is merciful, instead of judgment, He grants an internal remission of all sins by baptism; and even after baptism opens to us the door of repentance, which had He not done all had been lost; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Afterwards, however, there follows something about the punishment of unbelievers, to warn us against flattering ourselves that we can sin with impunity. Of the unbeliever He says, 'he is judged already.' - But first He says, He that believes in Him is not judged. He who believes, He says, not who inquires. But what if his life be impure? Paul very strongly declares that such are not believers: They confess, he says, that they know God, but in works deny Him. That is to say, Such will not be judged for their belief, but will receive a heavy punishment for their works, though unbelief will not be charged against them.

ALCUIN. He who believes in Him, and cleaves to Him as a member to the head, will not be condemned.

AUG. What did you expect Him to say of him who believed not, except that he is condemned. Yet mark His words: He that believes not is condemned already. The Judgment has not appeared, but it is already given. For the Lord knows who are His; who are awaiting the crown, and who the fire.

CHRYS. Or the meaning is, that disbelief itself is the punishment of the impenitent: inasmuch as that is to be without light, and to be without light is of itself the greatest punishment. Or He is announcing what is to be. Though a murderer be not yet sentenced by the Judge, still his crime has already condemned him. In like manner he who believes not, is dead, even as Adam, on the day that he ate of the tree, died.

GREG. Or thus: In the last judgment some perish without being judged, of whom it is here said, He that believes not is condemned already. For the day of judgment does not try those who for unbelief are already banished from the sight of a discerning judge, are under sentence of damnation; but those, who retaining the profession of faith, have no works to show suitable to that profession. For those who have not kept even the sacraments of faith, do not even hear the curse of the Judge at the last trial. They have already, in the darkness of their unbelief, received their sentence, and are not thought worthy of being convicted by the rebuke of Him whom they had despised Again; For an earthly sovereign, in the government of his state, has a different rule of punishment, in the case of the disaffected subject, and the foreign rebel. In the former case he consults the civil law; but against the enemy he proceeds at once to war, and repays his malice with the punishment it deserves, without regard to law, inasmuch as he who never submitted to law, has no claim to suffer by the law.

ALCUIN. He then gives the reason why he who believes not is condemned, viz. because he believes not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. For in this name alone is there salvation. God has not many sons who can save; He by whom He saves is the Only Begotten.

AUG. Where then do we place baptized children? Amongst those who believe? This is acquired for them by the virtue of the Sacrament, and the pledges of the sponsors. And by this same rule we reckon those who are not baptized, among those who believe not.

19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

ALCUIN. Here is the reason why men believed not, and why they are justly condemned; This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world.

CHRYS. As if He said, So far from their having sought for it, or labored to find it, light itself has come to them, and they have refused to admit it; Men loved darkness rather than light, Thus He leaves them no excuse. He came to rescue them from darkness, and bring them to light; who can pity him who does not choose to approach the light when it comes unto him?

BEDE; He calls Himself the light, whereof the Evangelist speaks, That was the true light; whereas sin He calls darkness.

CHRYS. Then because it seemed incredible that man should prefer light to darkness, he gives the reason of the infatuation, viz. that their deeds were evil. And indeed had He come to Judgment, there had been some reason for not receiving Him; for he who is conscious of his crimes, naturally avoids the judge. But criminals are glad to meet one who brings them pardon. And therefore it might have been expected that men conscious of their sins would have gone to meet Christ, as many indeed did; for the publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus. But the greater part being too cowardly to undergo the toils of virtue for righteousness' sake, persisted in their wickedness to the last; of whom our Lord says, Every one that does evil, hates the light. He speaks of those who choose to remain in their wickedness.

ALCUIN. Every one that does evil, hates the light; i.e. he who is resolved to sin, who delights in sin, hates the light, which detects his sin.

AUG. Because they dislike being deceived, and like to deceive, they love light for discovering herself, and hate her for discovering them. Wherefore it shall be their punishment, that she shall manifest them against their will, and herself not be manifest unto them. They love the brightness of truth, they hate her discrimination; and therefore it follows, Neither comes to the light, that his deeds should be reproved.

CHRYS. No one reproves a Pagan, because his own practice agrees with the character of his gods; his life is in accordance with his doctrines. But a Christian who lives in wickedness all must condemn. If there are any Gentiles whose life is good, I know them not. But are there not Gentiles? it may be asked. For do not tell me of the naturally amiable and honest; this is not virtue. But show me one who has strong passions, and lives with wisdom. You cannot. For if the announcement of a kingdom, and the threats of hell, and other inducements, hardly keep men virtuous which they are so, such calls will hardly rouse them to the attainment of virtue in the first instance. Pagans, if they do produce any thing which looks well, do it for vain-glory's sake, and will therefore at the same time, if they can escape notice, gratify their evil desires as well. And what profit is a man's sobriety and decency of conduct, if he is the slave of vain-glory? The slave of vain-glory is no less a sinner than a fornicator; nay, sins even oftener, and more grievously. However, even supposing there are some few Gentiles of good lives, the exceptions so rare do not affect my argument.

BEDE; Morally too they love darkness rather than light, who when their preachers tell them their duty, assail them with calumny.

But he that does truth comets to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. CHRYS. He does not say this of those who are brought up under the Gospel, but of those who are converted to the true faith from Paganism or Judaism. He shows that no one will leave a false religion for the true faith, till he first resolve to follow a right course of life.

AUG. He calls the works of him who comes to the light, wrought in God; meaning that his justification is attributable not to his own merits) but to God's grace.

AUG. But if God has discovered all men's works to be evil, how is it that any have done the truth, and come to the light, i.e. to Christ? Now what He said is, that they loved darkness rather than light; He lays the stress upon that. Many have loved their sins, many have confessed them. God accuses your sins; if you accuse them too, you are joined to God. You must hate your own work, and love the work of God in you. The beginning of good works, is the confession of evil works, and then you does the truth: not soothing, not flattering yourself. And you are come to the light, because this very sin in you, which displeases you, would not displease you, did not God shine upon you, and His truth show it to you. And let those even who have sinned only by word or thought, or who have only exceeded in things allowable, do the truth, by making confession, and come to the light by performing good works. For little sins, if suffered to accumulate, become mortal. Little drops swell the river: little grains of sand become an heap, which presses and weighs down. The sea coming in by little and little, unless it be pumped out, sinks the vessel. And what is to pump out, but by good works, mourning, fasting, giving and forgiving, to provide against our sins overwhelming us?

Catena Aurea John 3

Glorification of the Cross

Adam Elsheimer

c. 1605
Oil on copper, 48,5 x 36 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

Saint John Ogilvie

Franciscan Media

Image: Saint John Ogilvie study | © Peter Howson

Saint John Ogilvie

Saint of the Day for March 11

(1579 – March 10, 1615)

Saint John Ogilvie’s Story

John Ogilvie’s noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There, John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: “God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” and “Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”

Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.

John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. At his ordination to the priesthood in France in 1610, John met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be placed there as a missionary.

Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested, and brought before the court.

His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm.

At his final trial, he assured his judges: “In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey.”

Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland.

John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.

Reflection

John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.

The Liturgical Feast of Saint John Ogilvie is March 10.

Information: St. Eulogius

Feast Day: March 11

Born: prior to 819, Córdoba, Spain

Died: March 11, 859

Major Shrine: Cathedral of Oviedo

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Eulogius of Spain

Feast Day: March 11
Died: 859

St. Eulogius was the son of a Spanish Senator in Cordoba. His family was well-known and he received an excellent education. He also learned from the good example of his teachers.

Eulogius loved to read and study the Bible and his love for the Word of God grew with each passing day. He wanted to bring God's message to everyone. When he grew up, he became a priest and the head of a famous school.

At this time the Muslims had taken over Spain. They were against Christianity. At first they tried to make the people give up their faith. When the people refused to change their religion, they were put in prison. Some were even killed.

Eulogius and his bishop were put in prison along with many other Christians. In the prison, Eulogius read the Bible out loud to give confidence to the prisoners. As they listened, they no longer felt afraid to die for Jesus. During this time, St. Eulogius wrote a book "Exhortation to Martyrdom" that encouraged Christians to die rather than give up their holy faith.

The saint himself wanted to be a martyr and die for Jesus more than anything else. Instead, he was let out of prison. As soon as he was set free, St. Eulogius began to preach and he converted many. He even gave shelter to Saint Leocritia of Cordoba who the Muslims were looking for.

His earlier captors were so angry that they arrested him again. In front of the judge, he bravely declared that Jesus is God and preached the Gospel in court. Eulogius was condemned to death and offered his life for Jesus. He was scourged and beheaded and died in 859 at Cordoba in Spain.

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Sunday, March 11

Liturgical Color: Violet

Lenten abstinence was very
strict in the early Church. In the
400’s AD, a type of bread was
baked using only flour, water
and salt. Monks would shape
strips of dough into the outline of
folded arms in prayer. Today
they're called pretzels.

Catholic Culture

Lent: March 11th

Fourth Sunday of Lent

MASS READINGS

March 11, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who through your Word reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way, grant, we pray, that with prompt devotion and eager faith the Christian people may hasten toward the solemn celebrations to come. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: Fourth Sunday of Lent; Laetare Sunday

This Sunday is called "Laetare Sunday" in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite since its mood and theme is one of hope and rejoicing that Easter is near. In the Ordinary Form this Sunday is not different from the other Sundays of Lent even though the entrance antiphon for the day still begins with the Latin word "laetare" and the vestments worn by the celebrant are rose-colored, not violet. The day is important because it is the day of the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults at the Easter Vigil.

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Stational Church

Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of Chronicles 2 Chron:36:14-16, 19-23. It refers to the edict of Cyrus, the king of Persia, permitting the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, which had been burned by the Chaldeans as a punishment from God for the infidelities of the Chosen People.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 2:4-10. In today's extract St. Paul is emphasizing the gratuitousness of the gift of faith which the Ephesian converts have received. This gift which God gave them, even when they were sinners, had united them to Christ, and has given them the right to share in His glorious resurrection and inherit heaven with Him and through Him.

The Gospel is from St. John 3:14-21. This man Nicodemus had a half-open mind as regards Jesus. He was moved by his teaching and miracles. He defended him when his companions were out to have Jesus arrested. He helped to have him properly buried when his enemies had him put to death, but that was as far as he went, apparently. There is no mention of him in the first Christian community of Jerusalem. What held him back, what kept him from giving himself fully to Jesus who spoke so kindly and told him so clearly that he himself was indeed a teacher who had come from God, that he had been offered by God as the sacrificial victim who would save the world? All Nicodemus had to do was to accept his word, "believe in him" and be baptized and he too would have eternal life.

Why did he not do this? The answer is given in the beginning of his story "He came to Jesus by night." He was one of the leading Pharisees and evidently was afraid of what they would think of him had they seen him associating with Jesus. How much more so did he dread what their reactions would be had he become a follower of him whom they called "this impostor." Nicodemus had only half of his mind open to the truth, the other half was closed and barred by his fear of what his own class—the leaders of the Jews—would think of him. He risked his own future happiness in order not to lose the present respect of his sinful associates.

What a foolish man we would all say! Yet, are not many of us often like Nicodemus, when it comes to living up to our following of Christ? There are Catholic men who would like to, and should, go much more often to Holy Communion but are afraid of what their fellow-parishioners, who receive but rarely, would think of them. There are many, far too many, Christians who will not defend or stand up for their religion when it is insulted and attacked in their place of work or in a saloon. There are Christians who stand idly by, and give at least tacit approval, when grave injustices are being carried out by individuals or by local or national groups. These and many more like them are Christian types of Nicodemus, who through fear of losing the approval, the worthless esteem, of their sinful associates, are prepared to forfeit the esteem of God and their own eternal welfare.

Nicodemus probably thought he had made reparation for his lack of openness to Jesus when he assisted at his burial. What value, however, had that work of mercy for one of his frame of mind? There are amongst us today, humanists, most of them ex-Christians, men and women who make assisting their neighbor, while excluding Christ and God, the essence of religion. While the assistance the neighbor receives will benefit him materially, what spiritual or religious value can it have for the humanist who excluded God and our Savior Jesus Christ? Humanism or concentrating on our neighbor to the exclusion of God, is an imitation of religion and a very false imitation at that. Helping our neighbor because he is a son of God is part of our true religion, and the second of the two great commandments of love; but helping a neighbor from whom we have effaced the image of God has not and cannot have any religious value or significance whatever. It is as meaningless as lighting a candle before the photograph of a wife one has deliberately deserted.

Thank God, we have accepted Christ with our whole heart and our whole mind. It is through him that we have been made sons of God. It is through him that we have learned to love God and learned of God's infinite love for us. Because all men are God's sons also, and our brothers in Christ, we will gladly help them whenever and wherever we can because God has commanded us to do so. This is true humanism which sees in the neighbor the workmanship of the almighty Creator, and what is more important still, the elevating effects of the divine Savior, as well.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

The Station at Rome is in the basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem, one of the seven principal churches of the holy city. It was built in the fourth century, by the emperor Constantine. The emperor's mother, St. Helen, enriched it with most precious relics, and wished to make it the Jerusalem of Rome.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Ephesians 2:4-10

4th Sunday of Lent

This is not from you; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)

Paul is emphatic: we have been saved by grace, not by our own efforts. If we could have saved ourselves, Jesus would not have had to die for our sins.

So how are we supposed to understand the interplay between God’s grace and our efforts? First, it’s essential for us to believe, as Paul writes, that we are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Second, we need to recall Paul saying, just two verses later, that God calls us to do “good works that God has prepared in advance” (2:10).

Paul isn’t referring to individual acts of kindness or service here and there. He is speaking about a way of life. He is telling us that we, who were saved by grace, must respond to God’s gracious gift. And the best and only response we can have to this gracious gift from God is to try to be just as gracious as he is by doing charitable works of service for people in need.

Paul goes so far as to say that our charitable works are “prepared in advance” by God (Ephesians 2:10). In other words, we may think that our desire to reach out to someone in distress arose in our minds by itself when it actually came from the Holy Spirit.

God has put a desire for charitable works on everyone’s heart. But all too often people believe they are too busy to help. Or they believe their help won’t make much of a difference. The sad result is that there are still many people who are not getting the help they need.

Don’t let that happen! Resolve today to give back to the Lord through works of service. Lent is the perfect time to visit the sick or the elderly, to give to the poor, and to reach out to the wounded. It’s also the perfect time to get your children or grandchildren to join you.

“Lord, you have saved me. Now I want to serve you.”

The Rose Mass!

Zenit.org

Archbishop Follo: The Reason for our Joy: the Cross of Christ.

We are invited to understand that life is a gift and we deserve it by offering our lives to others.

March 9, 2018Francesco FolloSunday Readings

Jesus and Nicodemus by Crijn Hendricksz, 1616–1645 - Wikipedia

Roman Rite – Fourth Sunday of Lent – Year B – March 11th, 2018
2Chr 36, 14-16.19-23; Ps 137; Eph 2,4-10; Jn 3,14-21

Ambrosian Rite
Ex 33, 7-11a; Ps 36; 1Ts 4, 1b-12; Jn 9: 1-38b
Sunday of the Blind – Fourth of Lent

1) Contemplate Christ on the Cross.

The Lenten journey is like the exodus of the Jews who for forty years went on pilgrimage in the desert. During that long period, they were fortified by trial and lived a particular time of purification and grace. They also experienced the gift of the benevolence of the Lord who, walking in front of them as a column of smoke by day and as fire by night, led them to the Promised Land.

The Israelites were pilgrims in the desert because they believed completely in the Lord who was leading them to freedom. At a certain point, this faith failed and they complained against Yahweh. Then God punished them with the bite of poisonous snakes coming out from the sand. However, in his mercy God was moved by their tears of repentance and, above all, he listened to the trusting prayer that Moses addressed to him in favor of his countrymen. He ordered a bronze serpent to be made and placed on a stick in a high desert place so that it could be clearly visible. In such a way, all those who looked at him were immune to the venom of the true snakes raging from all sides of the desert. By doing this, the Israelites were saved from death by poisoning.

On this Sunday, the bronze serpent that the Gospel mentions invites us to reflect on Christ the Crucified Savior destined to become Risen One.

In the same way as it was ordered to Moses to raise the bronze serpent in the desert to save the Jewish people (and this became an instrument of salvation for those who were wounded by the bites of real snakes), today it is ordered to us to look to Christ lifted up on the wood of the Cross. Looking at the Crucified, Christians are saved from the poison of the spiritual serpent.

In the conversation with Nicodemus, of which today’s Gospel passage is a part, Jesus unveils the deepest meaning of his death and resurrection: the Son of man must be raised on the wood of the Cross so that he who believes in Him may have life. Therefore, if we want to save ourselves from the poisonous bites of evil, we must look to Christ who spreads love from the Cross.

Looking at the crucified Christ with eyes purified by pain, allows us to see God’s love for us and to believe in love.

Looking at the crucified Christ and following him taking our cross every day, makes us become people who love as God has loved us.

Let’s look at the Cross to let it enter not only in our eyes but also in our hearts and our lives. Let’s look at the Cross to become witnesses of the crucified Christ. When we look at it, wherever it is displayed, we are reminded of the possibility of salvation for life. The cross is there to tell us that, if we believe in the Gospel and in what Jesus did and said, our life is saved and becomes a healer for all those who are close to us.

2) The joy of the Cross

On the cross, Christ has given his life because he loves us. The contemplation of such a great love brings in our hearts a hope and a joy that nothing can tear down. A Christian can never be sad because he has met Christ, who gave his life for him. But the Cross is not only to be looked at with adoration, it is also to be embraced.

Why is it so important to embrace the Cross and why is this a source of joy? I will answer these questions with an episode from the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. One day this saint went to visit a sick woman and told her she had to be happy because, with her suffering, she was close to Christ. The woman replied that she wanted to get away from Christ because her suffering was too acute. Mother Teresa smiled at her, embraced her and continued to treat her stinking sores. The Saint of Calcutta had well understood that saying to embrace the cross was not an exhortation to resignation like: “suffer with patience, accept, and endure the inevitable crosses of life”. Jesus does not say: “endures suffering”, but says: “Take on you the love that is a gift of oneself “, namely, capable of sharing the pain by giving oneself up to death.

We are not asked to passively suffer, but to actively take part in the passion of Christ for the world, remembering that passion is the passion of lovers. Taking the cross means “taking upon us a life that resembles his”.

What is then the cross?

For Christ, it was not the instrument of death, but of the manifestation of his “exaggerated” love. The Cross is the synthesis of the whole life of Jesus, lived for love and by love.

With Christ, the Cross becomes a synonym of love. Therefore, the sentence of Christ “Whoever wants to come behind me, must take his cross and follow me”, can be rewritten “If someone wants to come with me must take on him the yoke of love, all the love of which he is capable, and follow me “.

Of course, we will experience that love has a price: the price of the gift of self. Love also has its thorns and wounds. These do not obscure love. They purify it because it is a love that does not possess the other but exalts him and makes us happy because it is an experience of belonging and of being loved. It is in the gift of oneself that there is true joy. The Apostle Paul speaks of such joy: “I am pleased with the sufferings that I endure for you” (Col 1, 24).

This is possible if the accent is placed not so much on the fact that Christ asks us to “lose” life, but on” finding “life.

The final outcome is “finding life”, as happened to Christ with the resurrection. What Christ offers is what all men seek, in all corners of the earth and in every day that is given to them: the blossoming of life, of a life that lasts forever, of a happy and rich life, because love grows only when we give.

3) Cross, joy, and virginity.

We could compare the cross to the bed where a mother gives birth to a child. The birth pains are not an obstacle to the joy of a new mother, but they are the condition. Living the cross is giving birth. How can we fail to think of the crucified Lord who, while everything is finished (Jn 19:30), floods with love those who are under his bed of pain giving a child to a mother and a mother to a child forever? Dying on the Cross, Jesus entrusted John to his mother saying: “Woman, behold your son” (Jn 19, 26). If He did not call her by the sweet name of Mother, it was because the hour had arrived – as it comes for the souls who progress in love – to entrust her with another motherhood. Spiritual motherhood on souls; the motherhood that the Savior had promised to grant to all those who had done his divine will: “Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, this is for my brother, sister, and mother” (Mt 12, 50).

That was a moment of joy. Apparently, it was not, because that birth was happening in pain. In fact, that motherhood made Mary cause of our joy because the most real joy is to see the light inside the love of a Mother who accepts us as her children born from the pain of her Son. On the cross, Christ gave his life because he loves us.

In fact, true joy does not consist in having many things, but in feeling loved by the Lord, in giving himself to others and in loving each other.

The highest way to give oneself to God and to others and to love God and neighbor is that of consecrated virgins, who graft on the cross the flower of their consecration whose nourishment is the life of Christ.

The flower is a symbol dear to Santa Teresa of the Child Jesus, who uses this symbol in the manner of the Sacred Scripture to indicate at the same time the beauty and the fragility of the human being in the earthy life (cf. Mt 6: 28-30). Thus, she rejoins one of the meanings of the word flesh in the Bible. In the book of Isaiah, the symbol of the “flower of the fields” characterizes the extreme fragility and mortality of “every flesh”, confronted with the eternal stability of the “Word of God” (see Is 40: 6-8). But the great novelty of the Mystery of Jesus is precisely that the “Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14), as fragile and mortal as the flower of the fields. Saint Teresina uses the biblical symbol of the “flower of the fields” (or “little flower”) for herself, extends it to all humanity (especially in the admirable Prologue of the Manuscript A), but above all, applies it to Jesus “in the days of his flesh “(see Hebrews 5: 7), that is in all the mysteries of his terrestrial life contemplated as mysteries of lowering, of smallness and of poverty, because it is” being typical of the Love to low himself “(Ms A 2v). It is here that the Saint of Lisieux joins Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi contemplating “the Love of this God, Who poor was laid in the cradle, Poor lived in this world and naked remained on the Cross” (Testament of Saint Clare of Assisi).

Arlington Catholic Herlad

For God so loved the world

Fr. Jack Peterson, YA | For the Catholic Herald

3/07/18

We started Lent with the imposition of ashes and the prayerful challenge, “Repent and believe the Good News.” Repentance is critical to a good Lent because it is critical to believe in Jesus. We can’t truly believe in Jesus if we are not keenly aware of sin in our lives and if we are not pained by how it injures God and neighbor. Real repentance flows from charity. So, the prophet Joel sets the tone for Lent on Ash Wednesday with the words, “Return to me with your whole heart.” The goal is to give our heart completely back to God.

The second Book of Chronicles provides us with a rather sad account of a very difficult moment in the life of God’s chosen people: “In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.” We are all sinners and we all have our particularly difficult moments. This was a moment of darkness for a large number of God’s people.

There is something refreshing about the level of honesty that characterizes this admission of sin. There is no effort to justify the sin, to blame it on someone else or to excuse it in any way. How honest, humble and forthright am I being with my examination of conscience this Lent? Would the level of genuine sorrow in my heart be pleasing to the Lord?

Jesus refers to another moment when the people of God turn away from the Lord and commit grave sin. While traversing the desert after the Exodus, the people forget all of the wonders God had done for them and complain against God and Moses. They somehow fail to recall that God released them from bondage after 400 years of slavery in Egypt; God rescued them from Pharaoh’s wrath at the edge of the Red Sea and drowned every one of his soldiers before their very eyes; God provided for their daily needs with water, manna in the morning and quail in the evening. He remained present to them, traveling ahead of them each day in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

As a punishment for turning away from Him, God sent venomous serpents, “which bit the people so that many of them died.” The people came to see how they had sinned, repented of their folly and asked for mercy. The Lord told Moses: “Make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

This event was a great foreshadowing of God’s plan to redeem not just Israel, but the whole world. Jesus says to Nicodemus in today’s Gospel: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Everyone who looks upon Jesus nailed to the cross and believes in Him will be saved from their sins and granted eternal life. How grateful am I for the cross of Christ? Is that gratitude shaping my life?

The fourth Sunday of Lent is also called Laetare Sunday and is a day of particular joy for Christians. We rejoice in the beauty, generosity and depth of God’s mercy. St. Paul wrote in the letter to the Ephesians, “Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved … ”

We also rejoice because the day of Salvation, Easter morning, is fast approaching. The Day of Days is near when God chose to demonstrate His love in the most cosmic way by defeating Satan, destroying sin and crushing death through Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Is your heart filled with joy as you ponder God’s generous mercy in your life and as we draw close to celebrating the events that brought you redemption?

Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.

https://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/Euchrist/HolyMass/gospels.asp?key=168

Year B - Fourth Sunday of Lent

God loved the world so much
John 3:14-21
14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “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.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.
21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus
When I told Nicodemus that the Son of Man had to be lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, I was recalling the past when people offended God and their punishment was to be bitten by deadly serpents. So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; anyone bitten would have to look at the serpent of bronze to live. Numbers 21:8-9

I was declaring to the world that I was going to be crucified and die. I predicted that I was going to be exposed to everyone like a cursed dead serpent, so that by paying for your sins with my death you could find life in me through the forgiveness of yours sins.

And just as sin and death came to the world through the first man, so grace and life comes from the Son of Man, a title that I gave myself to represent the whole human race. Since the offense committed against the eternal God could not be repaid by anything of this world, so I was sent to the world to pay with my human and divine nature the punishment assigned to everyone which is death.

But 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.

I did not come to condemn the world since it was already condemned by sin, I came to save it through my living sacrifice by which you obtained the forgiveness of your sins, to show you the love of God for His creation.

This is why I am still present in the Sacrifice of the Mass, providing my blood to cleanse you from your sins. The Holy Scriptures testify: “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” Zech 12:10

Make yourself worthy to be purified, eat of my flesh and drink of my blood to live.

I invite everyone to believe in me, to believe in my word, to believe in my suffering and death for your sins, to believe in the power of God that I have, believe that I will raise you up on the last day.

I am the light of the world, a light that dissipates the darkness of sin. Those who do not believe are missing out on the gift of God, they are condemning themselves since they prefer to live in darkness.

Come to the light my little child, do not be afraid, confess your sins, purify yourself in my blood and see with the eyes of the spirit the wonders that I present to you.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

The Archdiocese of Washington

The Enduring Love of God – A Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent

Msgr. Charles Pope • March 10, 2018 •

The readings from Sunday Mass speak to us of our desperate condition and how God’s abiding love has not only set us free but has lifted us higher as well. God was not content to restore us to some earthly garden, paradise though it was. No, He so loved the world that He sent His Son, who opened Heaven itself for us and has given us a new, transformed, and eternal life.

Let’s look at some of the themes and ponder how God demonstrates His ardent love for us and persistently works to lift us higher. If there are any problems, they are not from God; they are from us.

I. Problems – In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’s temple.

Here we see our repeated infidelity, worldliness, and impurity. It is not as though we have had just a few bad moments; we have been consistently, persistently sinful. The cup of human wickedness never seems drained. This is what God has been dealing with in the long and often sad tale of human history.

Are there good chapters? Certainly, but any honest look at human history will reveal that there is something deeply flawed in human nature. We are living in a fallen world, governed by a fallen angel, and we have fallen natures. Thrice fallen! This is what God is dealing with. Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.

II. Prophets – Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.

God’s first attempt is to call us through the prophets and through His Word. Like any loving Father, He does not seek merely to punish, but to instruct. Perhaps we will hear and mend our ways.

Have we? Is the presence of God’s Word among us a saving remedy? Again, the answer is mixed, but in general, we have responded poorly.

To some extent Jesus’ call to love has led to greater healing in this world. The light of faith, which once informed the Western world, gave rise to, love for the poor, respect for human dignity, hospitals, the university system, and the scientific method. The barbarians of ancient Europe were given faith, and many of them found unity in the bosom of the Church, in more stable governments, and in respect for just law.

Unfortunately, too much of human history, even in the Christian era, has been marked by violence, war, lack of forgiveness, injustice, unchastity, and a lack of commitment to the truth of the Gospel.

Yet God continues to send His prophets in and through the Church. Can the world really say that St. John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI have not been prophets? How about Saint Teresa of Calcutta, St. Padre Pio, Venerable Fulton Sheen, C.S. Lewis, and countless others?

Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.

III. Punishments – Their enemies burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects. Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.

Punishment is not God’s way of venting anger; He does not seek vengeance.

The purpose of punishment is to allow us to experience the effects of our sins in smaller ways so that something worse does not befall us. Thus the ancient Babylonians afflicted Israel, and God punished and purified His people.

God may well permit great suffering to come upon us, not to vent His anger but rather to summon us to repentance, lest something worse befall us, namely the eternal fires of Hell.

We humans are a difficult case. With the decline of the West one would think we’d have come to our senses by now. Our families are ruined, our birthrates have plummeted, our educational system is in steep decline, our economies are out of control, we have debts we cannot pay, and we seem incapable of chastity or of making commitments and keeping them. Yet we stubbornly persist in our path away from God and His gospel of truth and freedom.

Will we come to our senses or will we vanish like empires before us? That remains to be seen, but the Church will persist; though punished and pruned, she will endure.

Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.

IV. Purpose – All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has retrieved its lost Sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.”

Sin causes damage and that damage must be repaired. We must understand that sin is not just the breaking of abstract rules; it causes real harm.

The Christian term “reparation” refers to the repair that must be made for the damage caused by sin. The verse in today’s reading talks about healing the breach caused by sin.

While God never withholds His love, He must journey out onto the wayward paths we have taken in order to lead us back. This is a work of God’s, not just a wave of His hand, not just a legal declaration.

We have done more than disobey a legal precept; we have strayed far away and a journey of reparation must be made. The Lord Himself will shepherd us back!

Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.

V. Persevering – (from the Sunday Gospel) For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Thus is fulfilled the great and passionate love God has for us. His own Son comes and finds us in all our wayward places and leads us back.

Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.us.

VI. Promotion – (from the Epistle) God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ—for by grace you have been saved—raised us up with him.

Thus is our redeemed state even greater than our original justice. We have been raised up with Christ. Grace has brought us higher than we ever were before.

Now no mere earthly garden is granted, but Heaven itself.

Despite our ruinous state, God does not remove His love; His love for us remains ardent.

VII. Peril – (from the Gospel reading) – Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Many who love to quote John 3:16 (God so loved the world …) stop before getting to the lines above. Yet they are critically important to the overall passage because they remind us that we must welcome the saving love of God.

God has done everything to help us and to summon us to Him, but He does not force the deal. He stands at the door and knocks (Rev 3:20). He does not barge in; we must open ourselves to Him.

But some do not open! Why? Because they prefer the darkness to the Light. To them, the Light is harsh and convicting. It exposes their deeds for what they are: wicked, sinful, and unjust. Pride and obstinacy keep many from answering God’s call. They reject the saving love He offers and the many ways He has reached out to them.

Here, then, is the peril of human free will. God offers, but some reject Him, preferring sin and darkness. God permits this rejection because He wants our love to be offered freely. Love cannot be forced; it must be given freely. God wants to save us and lift us higher. The peril is that many prefer wickedness, darkness, and earthly pleasures. They would prefer to “reign” (they will not) in Hell rather than serve in Heaven. The peril comes from us, form our obtuse hearts. It is not from God.

For those of us who do open ourselves to Him, God’s love is ready to lift us higher. He offers us eternal life, the fullness of a life that grows richer every year until it opens to one so full and beautiful that eye has not seen nor has ear heard of the glories waiting for us (cf 1 Cor 2:9). Praise God! Rejoice!

I know that this song isn’t religious, but transpose it to a higher key, the way the Song of Songs does the Bible. Consider these lyrics as referring to the Lord and how His love satisfies all of our desires and lifts us higher:

Your love, is liftin’ me higher
Than I’ve ever been lifted before
So keep it up, quench my desire
And I’ll be at your side forevermore.

Now once I was downhearted
Disappointment was my closest friend
But then you came and he soon departed
And you know he never showed his face again
That’s why your love is liftin’ me, higher, and higher …

I’m so glad I finally found you
Yes, that one in a million
And with your loving arms around me
I can stand up and face the world.

Video

Sunday Gospel Reflections

4th Sunday of Lent
March 30, 2003
Reading I: 2 Chronicles 36:14-17,19-23 II: Ephesians 2:4-10

Gospel
John 3:14-21

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up,
¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁷ For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
¹⁸ He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
²⁰ For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
²¹ But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

Interesting Details

Verses 14 to 21 constitute the second part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus when he came to seek out Jesus during the night. In the first part of the conversation (3:1-13), Jesus told Nicodemus that man has to be reborn through the Spirit to enter eternal life.
(v.14) The reference of the bronze serpent is from the book of Numbers 21:4. As the bronze serpent was the symbol of salvation for the Israelites who believed in God, the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross is the sign of God's salvation for all mankind.
(v.14) "Lifted up" implies both being lifted off the earth (being crucified on the cross), and being lifted onto the glory of God (the resurrection).
(v.16) God's love is the single principle of his salvation for the world, and humankind in particular. It is of this Love that God gifted the world with His Son so that He would come, not to condemn, but to lead mankind to eternal life.
(v.18) Mankind must participate actively to obtain salvation by following the path of the cross laid down by Jesus. By his own action of believing in God and His salvation, mankind will determine his own salvation or condemnation.
(v.21) With the theme of darkness versus light, John repeated the same theme in the prologue (1:4) that Jesus is the light of the human race. People who are not willing to come to the light which is Jesus, they do not see the evil of their own disbelief.
Faith is a question of "works" rather than "deeds." "Works" is a personal response in faith through which the believer enters into a communion with God through Jesus. Rejecting Jesus is to alienate oneself from a life-giving communion with Jesus.

One Main Point

Because of His love for mankind, God gifted the world with His only Son, Jesus. Because of His love for mankind, Jesus laid down the path for salvation with His own blood and life for man to follow to obtain eternal life. Love and faith in God are the keys to eternal life.

Reflections

Let us reexamine our attitude and mentality during our life of the past month. Let us be honest to ourselves and reflect the priority we have given to Christ and His will. Is Christ the "light" in our life, or is He just one of the "lights", such as the "light" of arrogance, the "light" of acquired wealth, the "light" of power, the "light" of hatred, etc.. Are we ready to bet our life on the "light" of Christ?
Let us reflect on the true motives that keep us from embracing the "light" of Christ in our life. Does it make us loving someone that we want to hate? Does it make us realize that we have our own priority? Or is that because we are afraid that it will make clear the evil of our ways?
"God so loved the world that He gave His only Son" is a declaration of God's love to humankind. The agony of rejection is rather a common human experience. Contemplate over the agony that God has to bear over the way we use our freedom - a gift from God - to reject His love and His desire to restore goodness in mankind.
Salvation is belief in God accompanied by works done in God. "Belief in Jesus" and "works done in God" must go together. Let us reflect on the occasions when we lost our faith in God, and ask ourselves how often our works were done in God.