Fourth Sunday of Lent

Reflection on Scripture

“For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him”

Why did the Son of God have to take on our humanity, endure temptation and suffering, and die on the cross?

Adam who was the father of all, was as perfect a creation as God desired. God was with Adam in a special way and Adam was with God in a special way. When Adam sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, his pride fractured his relationship with God and sin came into the world.

Through the Old Testament, God demanded sacrifices from the people of burnt offerings and penance, but none of these were acceptable to the Father. Likewise, since all humanity was now subject to sin because of Adam, nothing humankind could do that would reconcile us to the Father.

The only acceptable offering to the Father was the One who was without sin and who was with God for all eternity.

The Son of God was the only one who could offer Himself up for our sins, becoming sin for our sakes, and making acceptable retribution to the Father, once for all.

Who did Jesus die for?

Jesus died once for all, and His suffering and death were a perfect offering because He Himself was with God for all time and was the absolute definition of perfect. Salvation is offered to all people, and we are asked to seek the Lord’s forgiveness in order to be reconciled to Him through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ. In Baptism, we die to our sinful selves and become a new creation born into the likeness of Jesus. Through our lifetime we transgress and embrace our old sinful selves but through the sacrament of reconciliation, we are restored to the friendship of God and promised eternal life.

Who is deserving of eternal life?

No one is deserving of eternal life. Eternal life is a gift from God freely given. God only ask that we be faithful to His covenant with us and that we keep His commands in love of Him who loves us all infinitely.

What does God ask of us?

God ask us to seek a relationship with Him through our prayer time and participation in His Word and the sacrament of the Eucharist. Our participation is our commitment to love God with our whole heart, our whole mind, and our whole soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our commitment is also a surrender to God and allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify our offering of ourselves and join our suffering in this life to the suffering of Jesus on Good Friday. Our individual efforts without the Holy Spirit are unacceptable to God the Father in heaven.

In today’s Gospel, we are told of the loving Father who accept his son, who represents all people. The son, with an experience of being loved by his father, gives in to the temptation to follow the path of the world and commits to the world’s pleasures. After following the path of perdition, he realizes he is not happy. In his unhappiness, he recollects the love, kindness, and generosity of his father and how he took all that the father given him for granted. When he returns, the father orders a feast and welcomes him with open arms because the son that was lost has now returned.

What are the things in our life or the practices that have come between us and the love of God? Do you feel God’s pleasure in your daily life or is your lifestyle causing you to be restless and unsure, maybe, even blaming God for your difficulties? Have you grown in virtue since last Lent?

Each day we are prodigal sons and daughters of God and each day we are provided with the grace to reestablish our friendship with God. Which will you choose today?

Deacon Phil