JOSHUA 5: 8-9,10-12/ PS 34/ ICOR. 5: 17-21/ LUKE 15:1-3;11-32
A PROMISED NEW LIFE
Fr Galadima Bitrus, (OSA)
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is also called “Laetare Sunday”, i.e., Sunday of rejoicing. On this Sunday, we are reminded of the ultimate goal of Lent as a preparation towards the joyous celebration of Easter. It is also called mothering Sunday because it was marked by a visitation to the Churches that gave us spiritual birth, that is, the Churches where we received baptism.
The Readings of the Liturgy border on the theme of New Life: the life God has promised us and the life we have promised God.
The 1st Reading (Josh 5:9-12) is the account of the celebration of the first Passover after Israel had crossed the Jordan River to the territory of the promised land. The celebration is preceded by the circumcision of the generation of Israelites born during the journey to the promised land.
Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God had made with Israel’s Patriarch, Abraham (cf. Gen 17:10-14) and became an important marker of Jewish socio-religious identity and a basic requirement for any non-Jew who desired to meaningfully associate with Jews.
In Gen 34:14-17, Jacob and his sons (Simeon and Levi) would not grant Dinah’s hand in marriage to Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, for being an uncircumcised person, saying, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace among us. Only on this condition will we agree with you, that you will become like us in that every male among you is circumcised” (Gen 34:14-15).
It eventually became a requirement that “no uncircumcised person may eat” of the Passover meal (Exod 12:48; cf. also 12:44, 47), that is, such a person may not partake in the memorial celebration of God’s liberation of Israel from Egypt (the exodus) in order to bring it into the promised.
Thus, as they prepared to mark this all-important event, God spoke to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt”, and he named the place of the Passover memorial, “Gilgal”, from the Hebrew word “gālal” which means “to roll away”. Therefore, the uncircumcised generation which Joshua led to the territory of the promised land had to first receive circumcision before they could celebrate the Passover.
The importance of circumcision continued right into the New Testament period and constituted a big issue in the definition of the Christian identity, threatening the co-existence between Christians of Jewish origin and those of non-Jewish origins. Paul and Barnabas had to debate “Certain individuals [who] had come down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1), an issue that led to the convocation of the first council of Jerusalem which defined the basic tenets of Christian identity vis-à-vis Jewish socio-religious customs.
The apostle Paul had to contend with this same issue in the Churches in Galatia. Paul had earlier taught there the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. However, some of his fellow Jewish Christians later passed there and were teaching a somewhat different kind of Gospel, requiring the observance of Jewish laws by Gentiles who had become Christians, especially the requirement of circumcision as necessary for salvation (cf. Gal 1:6ff.; 2:12ff.; 3:2-12ff.; 4:21ff.; 5:3ff. etc.). Paul was irritated about this development and responded in the strong-worded letter to the Galatians.
In any case, the celebration of the Passover marked a turning point in the history of the Israelites: it marks their passage from slavery to freedom, from a landless people to a people about to possess the land flowing with milk and honey which the Lord had promised them saying, “I have taken note of you and of what is being done to you in Egypt, and I have declared: ‘I will take you out of the misery of Egypt to… a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:16-17; cf. 3:8; 13:5; Lev 20:24; Deut 11:9; 31:20; Ezek 20:6; Jer 11:5 etc.).
In the 2nd Reading (2 Corinthians 5:17-21), the Apostle Paul proclaims that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (“kainē ktísis”), old things have passed away (“tà arxhaîa parēlthen”), he has become new (gégonen kainá). Paul also announces that having reconciled us to himself through Christ, God has entrusted unto us the ministry of reconciliation and the message of reconciliation, thus, we have become “ambassadors on behalf of Christ” (“presbeúomen hupèr Christoû”).
In other words, being in Christ is reconciliation with God and this in concrete terms implies overcoming our past and embracing a new beginning. This reconciliation is God’s initiative. For he sent Christ for this purpose. And when we have been reconciled to God, we receive the mandate to also become agents of reconciliation, just like Christ, and by so doing, we become ambassadors carrying out the ministry of reconciliation on behalf of Christ.
The reading concludes with the phrase, “for our sake God made the one who knew no sin (i.e., Christ) to become sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5:21). This is a radical proclamation of Christ’s solidarity with sinful and fallen humanity, taking upon himself humanity’s sinfulness, and becoming one with the human condition so that humanity may share in God’s righteousness.
As early Church fathers had taught (including Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria and even Augustine of Hippo), “the Son of God became a son of man to make men sons of God.” And we can add, the Son of God became for our sake a minister of reconciliation to make us also ministers of reconciliation between men and God and between one man or woman and another.
The Gospel (Lk 15:1-3.11-32) is the so-called parable of the prodigal son which Jesus tells as a response to the Pharisees and the Scribes who murmured because Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them, as tax collectors and sinners kept drawing near to listen to him.
The parable is told together with other parables about the pain of loss and the joy of finding again what was lost: the shepherd who loses one sheep and leaves the ninety-nine to go in search of the lost one (Lk 15:3-7); the house woman who loses one of her ten silver coins and has to sweep the entire house in search of the lost one (Lk 15:8-10), and finally, the parable of the father who loses one of his two sons into the lie of pleasure and reckless spending, and finally finds him back home, his rightful place, a place where he is being guided to build a sustainable present and future.
In the last analysis, these parables reveal why Jesus related with the tax collectors and the sinners, those who were experiencing the pain of being lost and were judged for their mistakes. Jesus did not judge them: he welcomed and listened to them and was more interested in helping them to find themselves rather than preserving a self-serving impeccable record of being a holy man who kept no questionable characters around him.
To the Pharisees who had seen him at dinner with many tax collectors and sinners and were complaining to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt 9:11), Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’; for I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Mt 9:12-13; cf. Hos 6:6).
Like the Pharisees and the Scribes who missed the point by fixing attention on the sinful nature of those who came around Jesus, instead of paying attention to the generous mercy Jesus was showing by welcoming and allowing sinners around him, we have also often missed the point of the parable by focusing on the mistaken adventure of the son who thought he will find more fulfillment away from the father and in prodigal living, instead of paying attention to the prodigal mercy of the father who eagerly welcomed his son once lost to the lie of pleasure and unfettered freedom which took him very far away from his father’s loving guidance, only to abandon him in the middle of nowhere, in the worst of conditions.
Some questions for our reflection this week:
1st Reading:
§ Am I living my promised life, i.e., the life God’s grace has brought me, after he had rolled away my shame and taken me away from what would have become my slavery?
2nd Reading:
§ Am I reconciled with God?
§ Am I reconciled with my fellow human beings?
§ What effort am I putting to be Christ’s ambassador of reconciliation and peace in my family, community, or workplace?
Gospel Reading:
§ Have I taken life with God for granted or do I feel it is constraining me?
§ Am I lured by the lie of pleasure to escape from God for a utopia of living the way I like?
§ Am I sympathetic or being judgmental of those living the disorientation of being lost?
§ Am I living the life of sacrifice and righteousness but have no mercy towards those who are not meeting up?
§ Am I merciful or vengeful?
May the Lord bless us and grant us the grace to become better Christians, better ambassadors of Christ, as we enter a new week pursuing legitimate means of making ends meet!
THE PRIZE OF RISING
FR. DANIEL EVBOTOKHAI
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, it is also called ‘Laetare Sunday’. Laetare is the singular imperative of laetari which means “to rejoice”. It is so called from the first word of Today’s Entrance Antiphon- Rejoice. The Church expresses hope and joy in the midst of our Lenten fasts and penances. It is also the joyful expectation of the Easter mystery. It also reflects the joy in the heart of the Father when he received back his rebellious son. And so, today’s gospel presents us with the well-known parable of the “prodigal son.” This story teaches us about God’s love for us and his willingness to forgive us. Precisely because of this fatherly love, this parable has been wisely labeled the parable of the merciful father.
Again, the word “prodigal” is quite baffling; the only time we possibly hear of it is in the gospel story of today. According to Cambridge Dictionary, it means wasteful with money; often spending large amounts without thinking of the future. It comes from the Latin roots ‘pro’ and ‘agere’ which means “forth” and “to drive”. It indicates the quality of a person who drives forth his money, who wastes it by spending with reckless abandon. So, anyone who wastes money with reckless abandon can be said to be prodigal. Another word for prodigal is wasteful, reckless, dissolute, extravagant and uncontrolled. Lent is a season of discipline, let us rise up like the prodigal son and return to the father for proper management, love, care and protection. There are ways into this:
Confess Your Sins: The son says in the Gospel “Father I have sinned against heaven and before you”. Confession of sins is an essential part of reconciliation. He realizes himself and asked for mercy. When we realize our faults, what do we do? Do we persist in our pride and arrogance or trace the path of reconciliation? When Nathan spoke to David, immediately David admitted his sins and asked for mercy. The woman caught in the very act of adultery did not shift blames; neither did she argue or deny. Some come before God like the Pharisee in Luke 18:12 to declare themselves righteousness. Don’t hide your sin at the confessional; you cannot even hide it from God. If a man hides his sickness from the doctor the sickness may hide him. Confession is the door to spiritual health and healing. Like the prodigal son don’t deny yourself this grace. To benefit the Father’s love ask for mercy.
Rejoice in the Lord: Today we are called to rejoice, and the bible says in (Is 66:10) “Rejoice with Jerusalem! Be glad with her, all you who love her and all you who mourn for her. … Rejoice in Jerusalem and leap for joy in it, all her friends! And Phil.4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. We are called to rejoice in the Lord and not in the world. In the parable of today, the younger brother demanded for his share of his father’s property. He desired to leave his father’s house to where he thinks we will find much joy and pleasure. He wanted to rejoice in the world. Some of us want to rejoice in the world; not knowing that the world’s joy is elusive. Lasting joy is not found in prodigal living but in the Father’s love. Somehow, we all possess this foolish ambition to be independent; either from God or from our parents. Some young boys and girls think that their parents’ house is a prison for them, they want to be free, they want to have time to go out; club; meet friends etc. Many admire distant lands, they are tired of family routine, they admire the scene out there and some left the Church. Little did they know that there is no place like home. Many who left the Church realized themselves like the prodigal son that they were hungry and thirsty of the Catholic liturgy; they needed to eat the True Body and Blood of Jesus. They were tired of the noise; drama and plays in the house of God.
Rise from that pit: The young man realized that he has fallen; he has been in the ditch eating with swine, when the servants in his father’s house eat well. We too must realize that in sin we have fallen from grace. No one departs from the Father and live in grace. John 15:5 says “…apart from me you can do nothing”. Failure is not falling; failure is the refusal to stand. Whenever we fall let us rise. Jesus fell on his way to cavalry yet he rose. It is in the habit of man to fall, but we can acquire the habit of saints by rising. In rising we experience the grace to carry on. We rise when we go to confession. The saints were washed; Rev. 7:14 says the saints are those who washed in the blood of the lamb. Let us rise.
In Luke 15: 17 the bible says “finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!” in verse 18 he spoke saying “I will rise and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.” The repentance of the prodigal was real. It was not a mere sentimental regret, not a momentary flash of sorrow for a bad past. It was a godly sorrow. 2 Cor.7:10 godly sorrow leads to salvation but world sorrow leads to death. This man returned home; let us rise and return to God. It is a call to rise and return to our first husband (Hosea 2:7). In the first reading God took away the reproach or shame of the Israelites and gave them better life. God always look out for ways to wipe away our shame, to remove disgrace from us just as he removed shame from the prodigal son. We have hope! Rise!
Return to a New Life: At his return the gospel says the father ran towards him and immediately he was dressed up in robe. The robe is a symbol of new life. Anyone who goes to confession experiences this new life –inner joy. There is the feeling of rebirth, and St.Paul says in the second reading of today; in 2Cor 5:27 if anyone be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature old things have passed away. Beloved in Christ let us embrace this new life. Allow the old things to pass away. Allow the malice to go, end pride, slander, hatred, gossips, lies, and anger.
TO Parents and Their Children: We remember parents today. Especially as we celebrate Mothers’ day today. HAPPY MOTHERS’DAY TO ALL WOMEN. On this day I understand the uneasy in raising children; the rift with those insisting on their due; I understand the struggle to curtail their excesses especially when they want to sleep outside at night, especially when they go out with their friends and come back home with clothes torn, I understand how many children even wants their parents dead so they can take over their father’s property, some are ready to use their parents for money rituals; like the prodigal son many have gone to distant lands; many are not in touch with their parents. We pray today that they may return back to their senses and come to God.
