On Cycle C, the Gospel Readings of Third Sunday of Lent, Fourth Sunday of Lent, and Fifth Sunday of Lent, reflect on mercy of God in various ways.
Third
Sunday of Lent: Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (Luke 13:1-9)
God’s mercy delays the judgement so that we can convert
and become fruitful to God, because He is patient, slow to anger, for He is
rich with chesed.
God’s mercy manifests in patience.
Fourth
Sunday of Lent: Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)
God’s mercy is an element of His immeasurable love, it
is patient in waiting for our return and removes reproaches of our past sins
and embraces us as new creation with joy.
God’s mercy to rejoice.
Fifth
Sunday of Lent: Narrative on the Woman Accused of Adultery (John 8:1-11)
God’s mercy in Christ, gives a new chance to the
condemned by humans according to the Law, thus mercy fulfills the Law, as the
justice of God is completed with the mercy of God by Christ.
God’s mercy to forgive.
*****
In reflecting mercy of God for the three Sundays in row
during the latter half of Lenten season before Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday), as
shown above, we call the Fourth Sunday of Lent as Laetare Sunday (Dominica Laetare), which means “Sunday to rejoice”.
This recalls the fact that Third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday (Dominica Gaudete),
“Sunday of rejoicing/gladness”. In fact,
these two Sundays are the only days in the Liturgical Calendar to have rose
(pink) color as liturgical color, symbolizing joy amidst penitential season.
For Laetare Sunday, as its entrance antiphon signals, we
rejoice mercy of God on us, as it was applied to Jerusalem for her post-exilic
restoration and renewal.
Laetare,
Ierusalem, et conventum facite, omnes qui diligitis eam; gaudete cum laetitia,
qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exxultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis
vestrae
Rejoice,
Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned
for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts
Entrance Antiphon for Fourth Sunday of Lent: Isaiah
66:10-11
The antiphon reflects God’s call on Jerusalem to
rejoice over His mercy on her for the post-exilic restoration of this holy
city. This echoes God’s call on Jerusalem to be ready to have its reproach of
her past sin, resulting in the Babylonian destruction and exile in Babylon, to
be “dressed in splendor” for her post-exilic restoration and renewal as He did
not want to lose His beloved, as he did to Egypt and Assyria in the past
(Isaiah 52:1-12). And it is His mercy to have made it possible to restore
Jerusalem in splendor with the post-exilic hope, having removing all the
reproaches from her sinful past.
In comparison, Gaudete Sunday is about the anticipatory
joy of the imminence of Christ’s coming, as reflected in its entrance antiphon.
Gaudete
in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Dominus enim prope est.
Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.
Entrance Antiphon for Third Sunday of Advent:
Philippians 4:4-5
Now, with all this in mind, let’s delve into the words
for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, on Cycle C.
The Gospel Reading for the Fourth Sunday of Lent,
Cycle C, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32, is well-known as the parable of the prodigal son
(vv. 11-32).
Jesus addressed the parable of the prodigal son (vv.
11-32) following the parable of the lost sheep (vv.4-7) and the parable of the
lost coin (vv.8-10) in response to the Pharisees and the scribes complaining
about his friendly association with sinners, while tax collectors and sinners
were coming near to him (vv. 1-3). All
of these parables address the theme of “lost but found”, as the first two
parables, the parable of the lost sheep (vv. 4-7) and the parable of the lost
coin (vv. 8-10), were addressed to build up to address the parable of the prodigal
son, who was lost his sin but later found in his father’s love and mercy (vv.
11-32), to teach how we can be found in God’s mercy though we have been lost to
our sin.
In the parable of the prodigal son (vv. 11-32), the
younger son, who is known as the prodigal son, demanded his father his share of
the father’s estate while the father was still alive and squandered all of it
(vv. 11-14). Because of this, he was reduced to eat what the swine were fed as
he was abandoned by the world (vv. 15-16). Thus, he was lost to his own sins.
Then the son realized that he just could not take it anymore
and that his father’s servants’ lives were much better than his (v. 17). So, he
decided to return to his father as one of his servants rather than his son so
that he would not die, pleading to his father, “Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers” (vv. 18-19).
On the other hand, the father believed and hoped for his
lost son’s return, therefore, waited for him patiently. Was he waiting for his
son’s return so that he could demand his money back from the son? No. Was he
hoping for the son’s return so that he could punish the son? No.
The father never lost his hope for his son’s return to
have him back as his son, not as his servant – though he had offended him –
sinned against him for treating him as if he were dead by demanding his share
of the inheritance and squandering it. He kept his hope for this son’s return
and patiently waited for him because of his mercy, so, he embraced the son, upon
his return, with his welcoming kiss (v. 20).
No question about the lost inheritance was asked by
the father to the son upon his return. The father rejoiced because his lost son
was now found and ordered to have a banquet after clothing him with the finest
robe, putting his finger a ring and sandals on his feet, removing dirty old
clothes (vv. 21-24). The “lost and found”
motif from the two parables prior parables: the parable of the lost sheep (Luke
15: 4-7) and the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15: 8-10, is reiterated in a
more elaborated manner in the first portion of the parable of the prodigal son,
who was lost to his sins but found with joy in his father’s mercy upon his
return (Luke 15:11-24; cf. Isaiah 52:1-12).
Because of the father’s joy over his lost son being found in his mercy, this is Laetare Sunday (Sunday to rejoice). This is the Sunday during Lent to rejoice over the mercy of God, reflected on the mercy of the father of the prodigal son.
It is important to note that the mercy of the father
removed the reproach of the son’s past sin without any judgement or
inquisition. This is symbolically described how the son’s filthy clothes were
removed and new splendid garments were put on him by his father’s mercy. And
this also symbolizes how God’s mercy can renew us through our penance and
conversion. Removing the reproach is done through the absolution process of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The prodigal son, who was lost to his sins against his
father and heaven, was found with his father’s joy in the father’s mercy. And
the son was made anew upon having his reproach from his sinful past removed.
This motif from the first portion of the Gospel Reading (Luke 15:11-24) is
echoed in the First Reading (Joshua 5:9a, 10-12), highlighted with these words
of God:
Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt
from you (Joshua 5:9a).
God proclaimed the removal of the reproach to signal
the completion of the 40 years of Exodus from Egypt, which started upon
Passover. During these years of Exodus, the Israelites sustained themselves
with manna from heaven (Exodus 16:35). But, not anymore, as they were about to
conquer Jericho, the last obstacle, to enter and settle in the promised land of
milk and honey.
So, manna was replaced with the produce of the land
for the Israelites’ sustenance (Joshua 5:12).
This change in the Israelites’ life just before
entering the promised land, punctuated by God’s announcement of the removal of
the reproach of Egypt , echoed with the ceasing of manna and the starting to
eat the produce of the land in the First Reading, with the joy of celebrating Passover
(Joshua 5:9a, 10-12) is another way to reflect how the father of the prodigal
son celebrated the new life of his son, upon his return, removing the reproach
of his past sinfulness.
The transformation of the prodigal son from a lost person
in his sins to a found person in his father’s mercy is echoed in the Second
Reading (2 Corinthians 5:17-21), as the transformation into a new creation in
Christ upon removing old things to have new things to come through
reconciliation with God in order to serve as Christ’s ambassador.
If you identify yourself with the prodigal son, who
was lost in his sin but found in his father’s mercy with joy, then, you find
yourself as a new creation in Christ, as a result of your Lenten penance and
conversion. This is how you find yourself in transformation into a new being through
God’s mercy through Christ on your Lenten journey from Ash Wednesday on. And
you taste and see the mercy of God as goodness of the Lord for being a new
creation in Christ the Lord, finding refuge in him (i.e. Psalm 34:9; cf. 2
Corinthians 5:17).
But in the latter portion of the Gospel Reading (Luke
15:25-32), there is the description of the older son, who refused to join his
father in celebrating the return of his younger brother became angry at the father.
What was his problem?
The older brother was like the Pharisees and the
scribes who complained to Jesus for welcoming and eating with sinners (Luke 15:2).
As the Pharisees and the scribes dutifully observed the Mosaic Law, this older
brother of the prodigal son remained obedient to his father – unlike his
younger brother. Now he found that his father is lavishly celebrating the younger
brother’s return, though the father had never given him such a feast. So, he
refused to join his father in celebrating and grew indignant.
Why?
Obviously, the older brother was jealous of his younger
brother.
Why jealous?
Because of his pride for not being like his younger
brother, who was disobedient to his father.
There is a parallel between how the prodigal son and
his older brother were in the Gospel Reading of the Fourth Sunday of Lent on
Cycle C (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) and how the pharisee and the tax collector were in
the Gospel Reading of Saturday of the Third Week of Lent (Luke 19:9-14), in
regard to the contrast between the proud pharisee boasting himself for being “righteous”
in his own eyes, while denigrating others, and the tax collector crying for God’s
mercy. The elder son’s pride in being obedient to his father obviously put his
younger brother down and prevented him from accepting his brother’s return,
resulting in his jealousy as his father celebrating his younger brother’s
return. His Pharisee-like pride kept him from sharing the taste of mercy but
made him complain about his father for being so merciful to his returned
brother. On the other hand, the prodigal son, the younger brother, returned to his
father for his mercy.
Do you find yourself more like this older brother for
not being happy to be faithful to God, because you feel God is not fair to you
but only in favor of those who are more sinful than you?
If this is the case with you, then, you can ask for
God’s mercy to remove the reproach of your pride, which prevents you from
tasting His mercy.
Another lesson from the older brother of the prodigal
son is the fact that God does not love us equally, as Francis Cardinal George said
in his column, “Why doesn’t God love everyone equally?”(Chicago
Catholic, Sunday, February 27, 2011), because God blesses us differently with
different gifts (i.e. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). In regards to the gifts that God
endows us with, Paul writes, “But one and the same Spirit produces all of
these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes”(1
Corinthians 12:11). Note that the gifts are distributed individually according
to each person’s uniqueness, but not equally. Likewise, God loves each of us uniquely,
not equally as if we all had the same personality, the same DNA.
So, the father of the two sons: the prodigal son (the younger
son who once squandered the father’s assets to his sinful acts) and the older
son, who was superficially faithful to him loved them differently but not
equally. But the older son became jealous of his younger brother and angry at
his father because his pride blinded him from this truth: God does not love us equally
but differently.
If you find yourself screaming, “That’s not fair!” (to
you), then, this can be a symptom of being like the older brother or a
Pharisee. If you desire to taste the mercy of God, as you need, then, your
pride is to be on your Lenten giving-up list. If you pray to God for His mercy
as the tax collector did (Luke 18:13; cf. Psalm 123:1-4). But, you must be
willing to be humble to ask God for His mercy on you, as humility is a sign of a
contrite heart. And without humility and contrition, no conversion and
reconciliation is made, because pride blocks the mercy of God. Then, you may
live with tormenting jealousy and envy, while anger festers to explode.
Remember, what made Lucifer into Satan was his envy of
God. Thus, his envy contributed to making him the archenemy to God. And the
first murder was committed by Cain to his brother Abel because of his jealousy (i.e.
Genesis 4:3-8).
As reflected in the joy of the father of the prodigal
son, God rejoices when we return to Him with our readiness to have our reproach
removed by His mercy. This is why God calls us to return to Him, turning away
from sins, as reminded by the First Reading of Ash Wednesday (Joel 2:12-18) and
the First Reading of Saturday of the Third Week of Lent (Hosea 6:1-6). For this
reason, He sent His only begotten Son out of His love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9)
so that we are found in Christ as new creations, upon our reproaches of old
sinful things removed, by God’s mercy. After all, it is Christ himself, who is
love and mercy, as he revealed to St. Maria Faustina (1074, Diary of St.
Faustina).
Let us rejoice (laetare) over the mercy of God
for us sinners to be renewed afresh upon having our reproaches removed. This is
a sweet aspect of our conversion and reconciliation so that we shall be sent on
our respective apostolic missions as ambassador of Christ on the day of
Pentecost, powered by the Holy Spirit.
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