2024/03/10 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Fourth Sunday of Lent
- Martina Ricca, Director of Young Adult Ministry & Community Outreach
This Sunday’s Gospel contains one of my favorite Bible verses of all time. “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” (Jn 3:16). It is an easily recognizable verse, as it is often found on religious memorabilia across not only the Catholic faith but other denominations as well. This message is a fundamental truth to our faith. It exposes to us the true power and the true nature of God’s love for us. It is a love that is so consuming and so free. What a gift it is to be a recipient of God’s love!
The power of God’s love knows no bounds. At times, I find myself feeling far from God’s love. It is one of those truths that I know in my head, “Yes, God loves me.” But I struggle to receive that in my heart, “Yes, God loves ME.” I fail to recognize the scope of His love for me, and how uniquely intimate it is. God’s love is something of great magnitude and power. How then, could He give all of that love to me? Why would he? Simply put, it is because we are his beloved. Beloved is our deepest identity. We see in the Bible where God establishes this name on Jesus, and on all of us when he says at the Jordan River, “This is my beloved son with who I am well-pleased.” Each of us is God’s beloved child, and He is well-pleased. He is well-pleased in the ways you tend to your loved ones, in the ways you carve out time to be with Him through prayer, in the ways you show his loving mercy to those most in need. God the Father is most pleased with the ways you live fully in His love. It is such a special gift to receive and to share.
Fasting is an integral part of this Lenten season. We unite our suffering to the suffering of Jesus in the desert and on the cross. We fast to rid ourselves of distractions that may inhibit us from hearing God’s voice. We fast so that we may experience a dying to self. So that we may rid ourselves of the “wicked things” that keep us from living in the light of Christ. God does not ask us to fast so that we might suffer or stumble. He asks us to fast so that in doing so, we become small so that He might become big within us. It is a surrender to fast. Not giving up, but giving over control to God. He will take your suffering and turn it to joy made full at Easter.
Part of the reason I think I love this Gospel so much is that we are so confidently reminded that God is not a vengeful or angry God like the image we saw in the First Reading. Quite the opposite actually. He is a gentle, compassionate Father. We are reminded that he did not send us his son to condemn us or condemn the world, but rather, show us a direct way to the Father and bring us into the light that is a life with him. John Paul II is quoted with saying that “Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure!” During this busy and dark season of Lent, may we all be reminded of God’s infinite love for us, and for the promise of eternal life that he grants through his only Son.