Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
4TH SUNDAY OF LENT
(Laetare Sunday)
Second Scrutiny of the Elect
Psalter: Week 4 / (Rose)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6: Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
1st Reading: 2 Chronicles 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: Ephesians 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: John 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: Jesus was conversing with Nicodemus, telling him that the Son of Man must also be lifted up to bring salvation. Jesus continued by telling Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son so that whoever believes in him (Jesus/ the Son) will not perish or lost but will have eternal life.
Jesus came not to judge the world but to save the world. Jesus further explained to Nicodemus that he (the Son) came as the light to the world but those who do evil hated the light because they did not want their wicked ways to be exposed.
Reflect: The very reason why God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world is to save the world. Why? It is because God loves the world so much, the world and all it contains. Love is the very energy that keeps the entire salvific process moving.
God’s love saves us. As followers of Jesus, we are called to become God’s instruments of salvation in our world today and it is God’s love that will enable us to participate in God’s salvific act.
Lent is a season that allows God’s love to grow in us. Love must motivate our Lenten observances.
Pray: Let us pray that the love of God may increase in us.
Act: Let us do one act of goodness today while being fully conscious that we do it out of love and for the love of God.
CLARETIAN COMMUNICATIONS FOUNDATION, INC.
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