Blessed Beyond Measure

Homily: Fourth Sunday of Lent (B)

John 3:14-21

14 March 2021

Fr. Ricky C. Montanez 

One time in London, as I was greeting people on their way out of the parish church after Sunday mass, I overheard a young girl ask her mum as they prayed before the crucifix near the exit door: “Does it have to be this way? Does Jesus’ suffering on the cross have to be overly exaggerated, bloody, agonizing and violent?” I could sense the panic in the mother’s voice as she tried her best to respond to her 8-year-old’s question. She told her in the most general way that this is so, so that we — all of us —- will realise how tremendously loved we are by God through the very sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  It shows how God has been extremely merciful to us sinners that He did not spare His only Son out of His great love for us. 

In our readings this Sunday, we are presented with how our God has consistently reached out to us in mercy, summoning us to return to Him. In the First Reading, the Chronicler recounts Israel’s infidelity to God and their hard-heartedness to heed His call of repentance. Out of compassion for His people, God continuously sent messengers and prophets but they persisted in their evil ways. This obstinacy eventually led to the destruction of the Temple and their exile in Babylon. Nevertheless, God persisted in pouring out His mercy on His Chosen People delivering them through an unlikely agent of His divine mercy in the person of Cyrus, the foreign king who allowed God’s people to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple. Paul, in the reading from Ephesians describes God as “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). This merciful love of God is described so strongly as bringing us to life “when we were dead in our transgressions”  (Ephesians 2:5). We are recipients of this divine favour by no merit of our own, but by the graciousness of God. In the Gospel we find the fascinating dialogue of Jesus and Nicodemus that gives the best summary of the Good News: “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.” (John 3:16) This verse stresses what is at the heart of our Christian faith — the profound reality of God’s love, powerfully expressed in the very offering of Jesus’ life on the cross. In Jesus, God holds nothing back. God gives His only begotten Son, whom He loves so much and takes much pleasure in, to give us the chance to be reconciled to Him and be led to fullness of life. The cross of Jesus, is the ultimate sign of how far God will go to embrace us, no matter how sinful we have become. We are blessed beyond any measure by God’s merciful love. 

The Bible holds many accounts of how much God loves humankind. The Old Testament has recurring stories of how the Chosen People betrayed their covenant with God and yet God showed them mercy. Adam and Eve were not destroyed. Noah and his family were promised that never again would the earth be destroyed by flood. The descendants of Israel delivered from slavery in Egypt, were given the Promised Land to prosper and call their own.  Throughout their history of being conquered and led into exile, God always gave them moments of hope and deliverance. In the New Testament we have the story of the Prodigal Son wherein the Father exudes unfathomable love and forgiveness for the wayward boy. In fact, the entire New Testament is the story of the fruition of God’s promise of deliverance and mercy and His plan to be fully reconciled with His people. 

Today, we have many images of God’s love and mercy. There is the Sacred Heart of Jesus that is aflame with love for us. The image of the Divine Mercy that assures us, there is no sin that God cannot forgive, even at the very moment of death, once laid at the feet of His divine mercy. When we receive the sacraments, we benefit from God’s love and mercy. Pope Francis tweeted today that going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation is “abandoning ourself to God’s love.” God loves us so much that there is no place He cannot go to find us and reach us in His mercy. 

Is it enough for us to receive God’s love and mercy and not share it? We are invited to do more than rejoice in God’s infinite mercy for us. We are called to imitate God in His merciful love in our dealings with one another. Last Sunday, we talked about anger as a normal human reaction. This week, we acknowledge how our humanity leads us to take revenge, to hold grudges, to harbour anger toward those who have offended us. Is it easy to forgive? Not all the time. Not when the harm done to us cuts us at our core. I’m sure you’ve heard utterances such as “That is unforgivable.” or “Walang kapatawaran ang nagawa nya.”  These are not just lines in drama specials. These are actual words of real people who have been deeply hurt. There is even a poster on social media that says “a single moment of misunderstanding is so poisonous that it makes us forget the hundreds of lovable moments spent together within a minute.” It’s true. Sometimes it seems so difficult, even impossible to forgive. Yet our Lord Jesus teaches us that we need not be slaves to our human tendencies. There is a higher road. We recall the words of Jesus to Peter that we are to forgive “not only seven times but seventy times seven times” (Matthew 18:22). In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus urges us to ask God to… “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12) Forgiveness is an act of the Divine. In imitating God’s mercy, we claim our connection with Him, who is our Father. We allow Him to elevate us to beings greater than ourselves. 

There are many stories about unbelievable acts of forgiveness. There is a story of a mother who frequented a prison to visit the hardened killer of her son.  When he asked why she bothered to show him kindness and compassion, she said since he had taken her son from her, she would treat  him as her own child. He would take her  son’s place in her life. The love and concern, meant for her son which she channelled to this man in prison, rehabilitated him. He was released early for good conduct and he did not waste his second chance at life. A few days ago, I came across this article on Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq. He visited the ruins of a church that was bombed by ISIS and was so moved by the testimony of Doha Sabah Abdallah, a mother whose son and nephew were killed in the attack.  She pardoned those who killed her child saying, “We, the survivors, [must] try to forgive the aggressor, because our Master Jesus has forgiven His executioners. By imitating Him in our sufferings, we testify that love is stronger than everything.” 

During these uncertain times, forgiveness seems to be vital. We have never been so aware of the fragility of human life. People can die anytime. Let us not hold grudges then. Be generous with our forgiveness and do not be afraid to seek it from those we may have offended.  Let us be living witnesses of God’s merciful love to a broken humanity.  Let us rejoice on this Laetare Sunday at how greatly loved we are by God whose love is everlasting and pray that we might become the visible sign of God’s mercy and help bring peace and healing in the world.

Artwork by Arcabas