4th Sunday of Lent

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(2 Chronicles 36,14-16.19-23; Ephesians 2,4-10;  John 3, 14-21;  4th Sunday of Lent:  Year B)
All the three readings of today treat one central theme: God’s love for us. Each of them brings out one aspect or the other of God’s love. The first reading shows that God’s love for the people of Israel was marked with steadfast love and patience. Even when the people of Israel were multiplying sins and acts of infidelity, imitating their pagan neighbours in worshiping idols, committing abominations and desecrating the temple, God was still steadfast in his love for them. He sent messengers to warn them, for he wished to spare his people and his house. But they ridiculed the messenger of God, they despised his words... Then came the tragedy of the deportation to Babylon, the exile and the slavery, which the author of the book of Chronicles interpreted as punishment for their infidelity. Yet, God still intervened in a very mysterious way, through the pagan king of Persia, Cyrus, for the people to reclaim their liberty, return to their fatherland and reconstruct the temple of Jerusalem. We can see the story of the entire humanity in the history of the people of Israel. Humanity has in several ways and times offended God by its inhumanity to fellow humans, through carrying genocidal wars, maltreatment and oppression. Often times one thinks the world would break up, sink and disappear completely, but providentially God proffers one solution or the other and directs events to conform to his loving design for humanity.  We should also, in the story of the people of Israel, read and interpret our own personal history of infidelity and ingratitude to God. But God in his infinite love continues to call us back from wandering far away from him and welcomes us with warm embrace.
In his gospel, the Evangelist John attests to the revelation of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.  God loved the world so much that he gave his only son... It is because he loves us that God did not send his son to judge (condemn) the world but rather that the world might gain salvation by his coming. God did not leave any stone unturned for our salvation. His love for us led him to give up his Son in order to sacrifice himself for our sake by dying on the cross.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians brings two other characteristics of God’s love: merciful and gratuitous. The merciful love of God comes out in the tenderness and compassion with which God deals with us. He is involved in every miserable situation of our lives and pardons our sins with utmost generosity. The gratuitousness of God’s love shines out when one considers that God does not pardon us because of our merits (not by anything that you have done) but out of his divine benevolence. One can possibly affirm that the Good News of Christ consists essentially in the following: God loves people with an incredible love, with a love that is infinitely patient and merciful, with a love that is absolutely gratuitous and with a love that leads to salvation and eternal life for all his daughters and sons. It behooves every one of us, by his/her free choice to welcome the offer and the gift of the divine love.  We need to acknowledge and believe in the love, which God has for us. (1 John 4,16). God does not condemn anyone. It is we, who condemn or not condemn ourselves. Condemnation of oneself or not, depends on what one prefers: darkness or light. To prefer darkness would mean to embrace the error of sin, and is tantamount to rejecting the light (truth and love). It further means hating the light and not willing to get near to it, lest our bad deeds and actions be exposed. In concluding we pose some questions to ourselves: Do we really believe firmly in God’s love for us? Why is it then that we are not filled with wonder and joy, but are rather lukewarm about it? Why are we not emotionally moved to the point of shedding tears? Why is it that we do not desire really to pay back his love for us? Why is it that we do not deeply trust God as we continuously show traces of doubting him? Let us pray that the good Lord will touch our hearts with his grace and cure them of their hardness and aridity. May we also verify our faith! John in his gospel states that God the Father sent his Son into the world that we may believe in him and in believing in him we have eternal life. We believe in Christ, yes, but with some reserve! In fact we prefer darkness (sins) many times to light (grace). Do we not prefer to follow Christ form some distance (as Peter did and then disappear after the betrayal of Judas) so that we would not be directly involved, or compromised in his situation? We shun getting involved in the passion of Jesus when we run away from the suffering of our needy neighbours. We need to take Paul’s warning in the letter to the Romans serous: Do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Rom 2, 4). This season of Lent in which we participate in now is one of the recent signs of God’s love for you and me, may the good Lord help us to utilize the remaining part of it as a sign of gratitude to Him for his love that is gracious, merciful, steadfast and gratuitous. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye