2 Chronicles 36:14-17, 19-23
Psalm 137
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday, meaning “rejoice,” from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon: “Rejoice, Jerusalem!” (Isaiah 66:10-11). Very appropriate, because we hear about God’s mercy today, and that is truly something to rejoice over! “His tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:9).
Even when God has to administer discipline, as we will see in the first reading, he still finds a way for his mercy to triumph in the end. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more” ( Rom. 5:20). This was true in Old Testament times and, obviously, fulfilled with the coming of Jesus, who is God’s mercy come in the flesh to dwell among us.
SECOND CHRONICLES
The first reading today is a kind of summary of about 300 years in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. It is a sad history of how God’s people failed to obey the Lord and “mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets.”
The Lord allowed Babylon to inflict a terrible chastisement upon Judah in 589-587 BC. Jerusalem was burned and the temple was destroyed. “Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon.”
However, in 538 BC, King Cyrus of Persia freed the Jews from exile in Babylon and allowed them to return to Judah and rebuild Jerusalem. Although Cyrus was a pagan, he is praised in the Scriptures as “God’s anointed” (cf. Isaiah 45:1). God used Cyrus as an instrument to show mercy to his people.
The Responsorial, Psalm 137, is a lament of the Jewish exiles in their Babylonian captivity.
GOSPEL
Part of today’s gospel reading, John 3:16, has been called “the gospel in miniature”: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” This is a brief, succinct, complete statement of God’s plan of salvation in Jesus. (Years ago, it was not uncommon to see signs saying “John 3:16” held up during football games.)
Jesus is Mercy Incarnate, God’s love made flesh. Today’s gospel selection is a beautiful summary of God’s purpose of mercy by sending Jesus. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
But let us not fail to take seriously the rest of the passage: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.” Salvation is freely offered but must be accepted by faith in Jesus, repentance from sin, and obedience to the truth. Unfortunately, “people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.” This gospel describes not only our human history but the present times we live in. May we not be found among those who “preferred darkness to light.”
EPHESIANS
Our second reading also brings out the theme of God’s merciful love. “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ – by grace you have been saved…”
The passage continues on, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you, it is the gift of God…” By grace through faith! We cannot earn our salvation on our own merits. Rather, we receive it as a gift of the Lord’s merciful love.
Here, we cannot help but think of St. John Paul II and his emphasis on God’s mercy, especially his encyclical, “Rich In Mercy.”
REJOICE IN GOD’S MERCY
Just as in Advent with Gaudete Sunday (another word for “rejoice”), today on Laetare Sunday we are encouraged to “rejoice in hope” (cf. Rom. 12:12). This Sunday’s readings prepare us to celebrate the Paschal Mystery in three weeks, when the Church will sing in the Exsultet at the Paschal Vigil: “O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave, you gave away your Son!”
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).