Fourth (Laetare) Sunday of Lent Year C

Today we celebrate Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word which means Rejoice. So, on this Laetare Sunday the Church invites her children to rejoice in the Lord for the milestone we have made so far since the beginning of lent. Hence, the proper colour for this Sunday is Rose (often called Pink) which is a lighter colour compared to the purple we have been using since the start of the Lent. This lighter colour symbolises the infusion of the Great Easter light which as it were gives us hope that we are drawing closer and closer and are nearing our destination which in this case is the Great Easter celebration.

“No wonder, the entrance antiphon of today’s mass from Isaiah 66:10-11 exclaims, Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast”. As it were, this antiphon sets the mood for today’s liturgy by brightening our penitential mood lest we sink into a settled and insincere gloom thus missing what the whole point of the Lenten spiritual exercise is all about which is that of gratitude for what the Lord has done for us in Christ.

So, whatever you might be experiencing or dealing with, be it sin or other life challenges, the Lord invites us during this lent to take a breath for a moment and rejoice for the progress and what grace has accomplished so far in our lives. Therefore, the Psalmist of today’s mass from Ps 33(34) invites us to rejoice and says, “Glorify the Lord with me, from all my terrors he set me free.  So, look towards him and be radiant let your faces not be abashed”.  We pray that our faces may never be abashed because the Lord has indeed set us free from the terror of sin and death through Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.

Thus, in today’s first reading from Joshua 5:9-12 we immediately find the Israelites celebrating the first Passover in the promised Land. I know This is quite a huge leap from where we were last Sunday when the God made a covenant with Abram of descendants as many as the stars of heaven and of a land. At this point in the reading, the people had already gone through the Exodus experiences from Egypt and have now entered into the promised land, a land running with milk and honey. Their desert wonderings now comes to an end. And in obedience to God’s command they now celebrate their deliverance and freedom from slavery in Egypt. And as soon as they did this and ate from the produce of the promised land, the Manner that sustained them during their desert wonderings immediately stopped.

As we contemplate and remember God’s people’s moment of great joy, we are aware that the Passover they celebrated was a foreshadow of the Easter Passover we are preparing to celebrate when through Jesus’  death and resurrection he delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son  where we have redemption and forgiveness of sin. So, whilst we may be concerned about some areas of our lives that we may need God’s grace, the Lord wants us be grateful and rejoice in this truth, for what God has accomplished in us and is still accomplishing in us. Hence, St Paul tells us in today’s second reading from 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 that…..that we who have been brought into Christ are new creation because God has reconciled us to himself through Christ by making Jesus, the sinless one into sin so that in him we might become the goodness of God.  In other words every action of God in Christ and through the power of his Spirit is that we might become the Goodness of God. Reflecting on all these things, the entrance antiphon invites us to rejoice especially those who mourn or are going through difficult moments.

It is with this grateful heart that we are urged to respond to St Paul’s exhortation in today’s second reading, to be reconciled with God. To be reconciled with God, make amends in the those areas where we know that our relationship with God has been strained. In a sense, to return  to the compassionate Father from  the distant lands of our wrongdoings and sins and wherever our sins and weaknesses may have driven us to.

The mercy of God is bigger than our sins. But His mercy is meant to lead us to repentance. This Sunday’s Gospel from Luke 15:1-3,11-32 reveals the boundless mercy of God. Even though we often sin, offend the God and through our actions walk away from our place as sons and daughters, He is always faithful to the covenant he has made with us in Christ. Hence, he is ever willing to show compassion and restore us to our covenantal relationship with Him and as members of God’s family. Like a shepherd, He patiently seeks us out and brings us back to the fold.

And for this we are grateful for his mercy and are encouraged to trust and to constantly return to Him from whatever far country of sin we have strayed to. And we can always do this through the sacrament of reconciliation where God awaits our return like the father of the prodigal son in today’s Gospel.

It is precisely on this theme of God’s boundless mercy that our Christian joy, or rejoicing lies.   And this is why I think that one of the secrets of remaining joyful and repentant in our Christian journey is an appreciation and  the contemplation of the Mercy shown us in Christ. This thought feels us with a sense of gratitude.

I pray that we may focus on truly rejoicing today and the rest of the week in what Grace is accomplishing or has accomplished in us. Think about the freedom we now have as adopted sons and daughters, new creation and destined to become a manifestation of the goodness of God. Think about his death, wounds and rejection that brough us life, healing and acceptance.  As we rejoice, may we find strength to respond to the St Paul’s invitation in today’s second reading, be ye reconciled with God who made the sinless one Jesus into a sin that we might become the goodness of God. His hands are wide open to welcome us back to this fold and to heal our strained relationship with him and to restore our dignity as Sons and Daughters just like the prodigal son experience. Today, this moment, now is the acceptable time of salvation, the Mercy of God is indeed boundless, extravagant and waiting for me and for you.  

Let us pray

O God who through your word reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way, grant we pray, that with a joyful and prompt devotion and with eager faith we may hasten towards the solemn Easter celebration. We make our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Lord be with you

May the Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Go in Peace and Happy Sunday.