Today’s readings are meant to fill us with great joy and rejoicing. They remind us that God loves us. He is a God that loves us and who keeps giving. What he gives to us, few of us dare to even believe this, The Gift of God’s own Son. How can we explain or even understand how someone could and would do this for us. Let’s face it, all of us are in some way flawed. None of us deserved this great gift; we have no claim to it. Yet Jesus was born for us; he lived for us; died for us; as scripture tells us in John 10:10 “that (you and I) may have life, and have it abundantly.” Today’s gospel speaks “that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” And here is the best part of the gospel, “Indeed, God did not send His Son into the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Wow!! And this is God’s free gift to us with all our flaws and failings.
One of our own spiritual writers, Fr. Ron Rolheiser questions “Do we ever really take the unconditional love of God seriously? Do we ever really take the joy of God seriously? Do we ever really believe that God loves us long before any sin we commit and long after every sin we will ever commit? (Against An Infinite Horizon, 1995) These are questions that we can ask ourselves during this time of Lent.
I recall a time in my life when I felt less of a person and undeserving of anyone’s love. The only dream as a teenager that I had was becoming a great athlete, which was shattered in University when I experienced a career ending injury. It didn’t matter what anyone would say or do I was a failure. One day I walked into a Church that preached a God that loved you unconditionally, that did not judge and that His Love was a free gift and was not determined by what I had accomplished. At that moment I knew that God loved me, He accepted me the way I was and He had life abundantly for me. I must say that has always stayed with me. Even in the midst of many challenges and struggles somehow deep within I Know, I Know that he loves me!!!
Every time we participate in Mass, this precious gift, this free gift of God’s unconditional love is present and empowering through God’s Word and the Body and Blood of Christ. Pope Francis this week said that Saints ‘are those who are not afraid to let themselves be caressed by the
mercy of God.” Let us pray together that this Lent we will allow ourselves to be caressed by the mercy of God and that we can become witnesses to His love that this world so
desperately needs.
–Margaret McCarthy
Bulletin – Mar 15, 2015 – 4th Sunday of Lent
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