Homily For The 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B (Laetare Sunday) March 10, 2024.

“Man’s salvation and perfection consists of doing the Will of God which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of his life.”– St. Peter Claver

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My Dearest Friends in Christ,

I welcome you to this 4th Sunday in Lent which is called “Laetare Sunday” in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite since its mood and theme is one of hope and rejoicing that Easter is near. This day is important because it is the day of the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults at the Easter Vigil.

Today, without any doubt, is a Sunday to rejoice. The readings are full of assurances of God’s Love, Mercy, and Salvation. Amid our Lenten sacrifices, prayers, fasts, and war against sin, God reassures us that our efforts shall never be in vain for He does not abandon us even when we have sinned. His grace is always there to uphold us. Today, we are asked to rejoice for our victory over sin, and death is assured. So keep pushing through. Don’t give up. Like an athlete who is already winning the race, don’t slow down. Put on your last strength. Keep struggling lest you lose the race you are already winning.

Obstinacy in Sin and Disobedience to God has Tragic Consequences

The First Reading of today gives us a picture of who God is and narrates the historical decree that saw the Jews back to their homeland Judah to rebuild the temple of God that was laid to ruins by foreign invasion. In this reading, it is very clear to us that obstinacy in sin and disobedience has tragic consequences in the life of a person and nation. The Jews were a chosen race. They were loved by God and God availed Himself to enter into a covenant with them, in which He promised to be their God consequent upon their obedience to His commandments. The Jews presumed God’s love and disobeyed God and did commit various sins that God abhorred. Even at that, God did not lose His patience or withdraw His love. He sent Prophets to speak to them, to call them back from their depraved ways, but the prophetic warnings and appeals fell on deaf ears. Finally, their infidelity caught up with them, when they were humiliated by a pagan nation. Even though they were more powerful than the pagan nation, their temple, which was their pride was destroyed. They lost everything and went into exile, exiled by sin.

In all these experiences God did not stop thinking about His people. During the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, God touched and inspired King Cyrus to issue a decree that freed the Jews to go home and rebuild the temple after many years in exile. This passage shows us how the people’s infidelities caused them to lose the Temple and their homeland, and how God arranged, through the pagan king of Persia, to return them to their homeland and to help them rebuild His Temple. This short, sad summary with a hopeful ending is told from the viewpoint of a conviction that right worship will restore a people. God is willing to use desperate measures, even the heartbreak of His people, to save them and not to hurt them.

My dearest, when we remain obstinate in sin when we neglect God’s commandments, we are simply trying God’s Patience and Love. Yet whatever happens is a product of our actions, our consequences for making a wrong choice, and not God’s will for us. God’s Love is beyond our imagining, even in sin God searches to save the sinner.

Salvation is God’s Gift not Merited

In the Second Reading, taken from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Paul reiterates the same fact, that our salvation, the salvation of the Jews and Gentiles is a gift of God and not what we meritoriously deserve. Salvation is God’s gift to a sinner. All our goodness is God’s gift to us and is nothing about which we should boast. “By grace we are saved through faith and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Eph 4:8-10). The second reading thus reveals, “The great love [God] had for us.” Further, while this reading affirms that we are “saved through faith,” it also makes clear that this faith itself is the gift of God.

God Desires to Save You

In the Gospel of today, we heard about Nicodemus who was one of the leading Pharisees. He had respect for Jesus and belief in His teachings and miracles. He had to go to Jesus at night because he was afraid of associating with Him during the day for fear of losing his reputation by becoming a disciple of a Man the Pharisees regarded as “that impostor”. Nicodemus had only half of his mind open to the truth, the other half was closed and barred by his fear of what his class—the leaders of the Jews—would think of him. He risked his future happiness in order not to lose the present respect of his sinful associates. Many of us Christians are like Nicodemus. We often give up our respect and defense of the things of God for fear of what people might say of us. Today Jesus tells Nicodemus and all of us about the salvation He brings. It is left to us to accept the light of the truth, drop works of darkness, and embrace the salvation that Christ has come to give us. Believe in God or be condemned to hell.

This Gospel pericope reminds us that God’s love for us is so immeasurable that He gave His only Son for the salvation of the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” John 3:16. This is the summary of the Gospel message of salvation through Christ Jesus. This text is the very essence of the Gospel. It tells us that God takes the initiative in all salvation because of His Love for man. As St. Augustine puts it: “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.” It also explains to us the universality of the love of God. God’s motive is Love and God’s objective is salvation. Those who receive eternal life must believe in the Son.

My dearest, God has offered Himself to us, we too in appreciation must offer ourselves to God. The serpent lifted by Moses in the wilderness prefigures Christ who is lifted onto the tree of the cross. The Jews who looked at the serpent obtained healing; so also all those who look up to, turn their thoughts to, and believe in Jesus Crucified on the Cross shall obtain healing and eternal life through Him. Jesus was lifted twice: on the Cross and at his Ascension into Heaven. Just as the Cross was the way to glory for Jesus, so it is for us. We can, if we like, refuse the cross that every Christian is called to bear. It is an unalterable law of human life, however, without the cross, there is no crown.

If God has shown us and continues to show us so much love, let us appreciate His Love, His sufferings, and His death for us by detaching ourselves from every form of sin and disobedience that nails Him daily on the Cross. Let us never give up in our struggles to overcome sin because our victory is assured. May God fill you with His supernatural strength and may you obtain freedom from captivity, and enjoy the salvation of God’s children.

“Fasting is the soul of prayer. Mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast. If you fast, show mercy: if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”
– St. Peter Chrysologus

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