How to Save a Life

4th Sunday of Lent  11 March 2018

First reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23 All the leading priests and the people also were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abomination of the nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so great that there was no remedy. They burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom and also declared in a written edict: “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him! Let him go up.” Second reading:  Ephesians 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. Gospel: John 3:14-21 Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” “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. 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. 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. 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. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 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.”

Reflection
by Theresa Ballo

The readings this Sunday show the magnificent love of God for humanity. The words speak of hope for despair, repentance for the sinner, and assurance for the doubtful. When desperation comes, confusion follows. We may get lost in knowing the right thing to do over what appears to be the best solution. For sometimes the best solution does not necessarily equate to be the right one. Sometimes when bad things happen to us, three things may occur. First, we may be stuck. We may feel numb and do nothing of the situation. Second, we may get away from the situation. We look for alternatives for us not to feel the pain, finding immediate pain-relievers. Lastly, we might face the situation head on. Though fighting may also be relative. We may fight the wrong way or the right way. Like, getting even with our offenders, finding fault in other people, or sabotaging ourselves to make other people feel guilty about our situation. But, where is God in all of these? What would Jesus do if He is in my situation?

The fourth Sunday of Lent is Laetare Sunday, a period of rejoicing. The readings proclaimed a recovery to hope and bring back joy as we pass through our Lenten journey. In the first reading, the entire people of Judah turned their back against God. They do things that despise God, however His response was kindness. He sent His prophets but to no avail the people scoffed and mocked them. This has caused a lot of suffering to the people of Judah, their own pride and selfishness harmed themselves and others too. Still, God’s love is so big that He came to the rescue despite the people’s shortcomings. In the Gospel, Nicodemus, one of the leading Pharisees came to Jesus. Jesus shared with him the sacrifice Jesus was about to make in Calvary. He presented God to him as someone with profuse grace and mercy whose only desire is to save humanity.

For those who are troubled and brokenhearted right now, the readings are God’s message for you.   He is talking to you, to me also. The past days and up to this point, I am not okay. Sleeping at night is the hardest part of the day and as soon as I wake up, I just want to remain in bed and force my body to sleep again. This may sound really ironic. But I have to go to work because I am doing therapy sessions for a student who has recurring suicidal ideation and once tried to do something on the belief that it will end her life. I have to leave the heavy heart in bed because my mind has to be focused on her, and her alone. You know what keeps me going? And it was like magic, each day I am receiving a miracle. Since I have to submit this reflection, I have been reading the readings for this Sunday every day since Monday of last week. Each day I am reminded that all will pass through and the love of God, His security, mercy and grace will remain. This is how God loves me. This is how God loves you. Jesus willingly sacrificed His own life and speaks the promise of Resurrection for us to understand the glory in suffering. This is love. This is how God save us, by giving us His own beloved son, Jesus Christ. Believe! True love saves lives.

Prayer

Dearest Father,

We are truly sorry for our shortcomings. May we always cling on to hope as we undergo challenges in our life. You have given us immeasurable riches of God’s grace and because of that we have come to see the light. May we answer the call to bring Christ’s light to our world. Amen.