Homily - 4th Sunday of Lent - Year B

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

The serpent was a sign of death.

People were bitten and they died.

But in God’s wisdom, a sign of death becomes a sign of life.

The cross is a horrible instrument of torture and death.

But in God’s wisdom, that sign of death becomes an even greater sign of life, eternal life.

In the coming weeks we’ll get a vivid reminder of the horror of the Cross.

We’ll get a reminder of how the Lord brings about our salvation through his gruesome death.

But today’s Gospel tells us who and why.

“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.”

Do we realize how awesome that is?

Everything Jesus does is because God so loved the world.

This is a very popular Gospel verse.

Most of us have seen the John 3:16 signs at sporting events.

Many times, the person holding the sign will be wearing some very loud clothing or a colorful rainbow wig in order to be noticed.

And the reason people hold the sign at sporting events is that this verse could be seen as a summary of the Gospels.

In our second reading today from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he shows us that God is rich in mercy.

We have proof in John 3:16

He sent His Son.

We are dead in our sins and Christ brings us to life.

He is the ultimate Gift from God.

When we look at the culture around us or perhaps at our own lives, we may feel like those described in our first reading today from the 2nd book of Chronicles:

A culture full of infidelity and abominations

Many mocked the messengers of God.

Many despised his warnings. 

In our culture and perhaps in our own lives, the compassion of God is taken for granted.

We prefer darkness to light.

We prefer captivity to freedom.

But let us not lose hope.

The Lord is still immeasurably rich in mercy. 

Here’s a reminder:

Today, we anticipate the joy of Easter in the middle of the penitential season of Lent.

We can wear rose vestments for Laetare Sunday.

That word Laetare is the first word of the Mass today in the entrance antiphon: Rejoice Jerusalem

So just in case we are too wrapped up in our Lenten penances, today is a nice refresher.

We can lift up our heads and notice that the joy of Easter is not far off.

Yes, we are exiled in the world like God’s people were exiled in Babylon.

It’s a nice reminder that this is not our true home.

We are pilgrims passing through.

We can rejoice because we have the perfect guide – God’s only Son.

 But we might acknowledge Jesus persevered through all these horrible things, but how does that help me?  Jesus is God.

Jesus has taken on being human.

He takes on the human senses of the body and the affections of the soul.

Fully human, he was despised in our lowliness.

He was saddened in our human sorrow.

He was crucified with real human pain.

One way we know he experienced all this real human anguish is because in the garden, he asked the Father to let the cup pass by him.

 He did it all in mercy for us and because of the perfect love he has for the Father.

We’re on a collision course with death, eternal death.

And that is unacceptable to the unfathomable love and infinite mercy of our Heavenly Father.

In the coming weeks, we will remember more and more how God gave his Son over to death to bring about our redemption.

His death opens the gates of Heaven for all of us.

But the reason we are Christians is that we know the story doesn’t end there.

We know that on the third day,

Jesus conquered death forever when He rose from the dead.

And by virtue of our baptism, we get the promise of the resurrection also, the eternal life Jesus promises us in John 3:16.

Even though John 3:16 is a nice summary of the great things God does for us, it doesn’t say it all.

John 3:16 tells us that anyone who believes might have eternal life.

Notice it doesn’t say, “will have eternal life.”

It says, “might have eternal life.”

A few verses later, John 3:21 tells us that belief leads us to practicing good works.

Our good works are our response to God’s gift of His only Son.

If we hold this belief in an authentic way,

We will be compelled to do good things.

If we believe that God gave his holy Son to save the world, including me,

We won’t be able to help doing good works.

As we anticipate the joy of Easter in the midst of Lent,

Perhaps we can take another look at our lives and see how we are compelled to do good works because of our faith that promises us eternal life.