March 22, 2009 Fourth Sunday of Lent 2 Chron. 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph. 2:4-10; Jn. 3:14-21 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/032209.shtml              ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     God so loved the world: Despite our infidelity, God remains faithful to us; despite the steps we take toward our own destruction, God continues to offer us a second chance at life. Such is the “depth and breadth and height” of God’s love.   God’s love is more dominant in John’s writings than anywhere else in the New Testament. God is love; love is the mutual relationship between Jesus and the Father; Jesus loves his disciples and says that their love of service and friendship is to be a hallmark of discipleship. The paschal season is the public affirmation and renewal of such love.   However, God does not force anything upon us. We are free to choose. We can accept God’s loving gestures, or refuse them. Jesus tells Nicodemus that people can choose to believe or not believe in Christ; they can prefer darkness to the light. There has always been a choice. Today the choice is ours to make. Will we make it?   Whoever does not believe in Jesus has already been condemned, because they loved darkness more than light.   Very few people explicitly choose against God, but can we honestly absolve ourselves of actions that resemble those described in the first reading? Do we heed the warnings of God’s messengers, or do we scoff at them - even silence them?   Despite this focus on our own sinfulness and the dire consequences that flow from it, the predominant theme for this Sunday is DIVINE MERCY. But we can comprehend its magnanimous character and boundless scope only if we see it in relation to our own culpability. As the readings show us how important it is to acknowledge our guilt and to return to God, they concentrate on God’s eagerness to enfold us in the warm embrace of divine mercy.   Confident of God’s merciful love, we are able to repent, return to God and start anew. Like the people of ancient Israel, we can indeed rebuild our broken lives and our disgraced church. We can create a world based on cooperation rather than competition, on respect rather than discrimination. God’s love has been offered; the choice is ours.     <<   Previous: Third Sunday of Lent  | Next: Fifth Sunday of Lent >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)