4TH SUNDAY OF LENT
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet/Rose)
Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
1st Reading: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
Furthermore, all the heads of the priesthood, and the people, too, were exceedingly unfaithful, following the disgusting example of the nations around them, and so they defiled the house which Yahweh himself had made holy. Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, continued to send prophets to warn his people, since he had compassion on them and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, ignored his words, and laughed at his prophets, until at last the anger of Yahweh rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy.
They burned down the house of God, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his descendants as slaves until the kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the work of Yahweh was fulfilled that he spoke through Jeremiah, “The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for its Sabbath rests that have not been observed.”
And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom: “Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judah. Now, all of you who belong to his people, go there; and may Yahweh your God be with you.”
2nd Reading: Eph 2:4-10
But God, who is rich in mercy, revealed his immense love. As we were dead through our sins, he gave us life, with Christ. By grace, you have been saved! And he raised us to life, with Christ, giving us a place with him in heaven.
In showing us such kindness, in Christ Jesus, God willed to reveal and unfold in the coming ages the extraordinary riches of his grace. By the grace of God, you have been saved, through faith. This has not come from you: it is God’s gift. This was not the result of your works, so you are not to feel proud. What we are, is God’s work. He has created us, in Christ Jesus, for the good works he has prepared, that we should devote ourselves to them.
Gospel: Jn 3:14-21
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
This is how Judgment is made: Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, for fear that his deeds will be seen as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light, so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.”
Lectio Divina
Read: God’s persistent and unrelenting efforts to redeem people are met with total ignorance and unwillingness by the latter. The world prefers to love darkness and reject God’s light. If we are saved, it is only due to the extraordinary riches of his grace and mercy.
Reflect: What is the shape of God’s love? Perhaps it’s shape is its shapelessness. For His love is beyond boundaries and we simply cannot get our hands around it. We cannot hold it in our hearts or hands; rather, we must simply let ourselves be held by this boundless love that redeems us despite ourselves. To follow the reflection of theologian James Allison, our faith is not about doing good, it is not even about being good; it is all about being loved. The day we grasp the truth of this is the day we will know God and know ourselves.
Pray: Pray for a keen awareness of being loved into being by God every moment of your life.
Act: Share God’s love in some concrete way with someone less fortunate than you.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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