Fourth Sunday of Lent

Catechism Links [1]
CCC 1439, 1465, 1481, 1700, 2839: The prodigal son
CCC 207, 212, 214: God is faithful to his promises
CCC 1441, 1443: God pardons sin and restores the sinner to the community
CCC 982: The door of pardon is open to all who repent
CCC 1334: Israel’s daily bread was the fruit of the promised land

Today in the Church those who are participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) will begin a series of Scrutinies. Options are offered for today’s Mass Celebration.  The “Cycle A” readings may be used.  Also, the first reading from the Cycle A readings may be used in place of Reading 1 below.  A Cycle A  post is provided for those choosing this option.
 
 

“The Return of the Prodigal Son”
by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1636

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading I: Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
 
The LORD said to Joshua,
“Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.”
 
While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
they celebrated the Passover
on the evening of the fourteenth of the month.
On the day after the Passover,
they ate of the produce of the land
in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.
On that same day after the Passover,
on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.
No longer was there manna for the Israelites,
who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.
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Commentary on Jos 5:9a, 10-12
 
Joshua, the successor of Moses, is leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land. In vv.2-9 Joshua is commanded by the Lord to make flint knives and circumcise all the Israelites. This implies that during the 40 years of the sojourn in the desert the people had fallen away from this ritual. This was done and when it was accomplished, we see in v. 9 this occasioned the removal of the reproach of Egypt from them. [5]
 
In this passage the people have reached the land and are beginning to prosper from it. We are told that the people celebrate the Passover, probably relating to the reference in the first verse “Today I have removed the reproach [shame] of Egypt;” the promise of the Lord is fulfilled; the land he promised is given. At that point the Lord withdrew the manna he had been providing, as the people now had the land to supply all their needs.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
 
R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
 
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
 
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
 
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
 
Psalm 34 sings a song of salvation at the hands of the Lord. It tells of God’s love for those who serve him. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Psalm 34:5, 7), can teach the "poor," those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone. This psalm, in the words of one being unjustly persecuted, echoes hope for deliverance and freedom.
 
The psalmist sings of God’s mercy and salvation, in reference to the promise made to the people of a land flowing with milk and honey.  From a more prophetic perspective we also have an image of Christ in the Eucharist, the taste of God’s mercy.
 
CCC: Ps 34:3 716
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Reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
 
Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
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.
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Commentary on 2 Cor 5:17-21
 
St. Paul begins this passage with an image of baptism (“Whoever is in Christ is a new creation”) which is how we are reconciled to God through Christ. He (God) goes on using Christ as the tool for the remission of sin (trespasses) and using Christians to spread that word to the world. The evangelist  then continues to exhort the Corinthians. He calls them to faithfulness, to be reconciled with God in Christ because of Jesus’ great sacrifice for us all.
 
CCC: 2 Cor 5:17 1214, 1265; 2 Cor 5:17-18 1999; 2 Cor 5:18-21 2844; 2 Cor 5:18 981, 1442, 1461; 2 Cor 5:19 433, 620; 2 Cor 5:20 859, 1424, 1442; 2 Cor 5:21 602
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Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
 
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“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.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”
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Commentary on Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
 
The topic of repentance and forgiveness comes to a climax with St. Luke’s Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the two “Parables of Mercy” found in this section.  The parables distill the essence of the Good News. Found only in St. Luke’s Gospel, the imagery is instantly clear that this is to be an analogy. The father in the story represents God and the prodigal son followers of Christ, when they repent their sins. Interestingly, the older brother also represents Christians when they do not forgive those who have also sinned. We are given the picture of the loving father welcoming his son home, an allusion used also in the parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7). The invitation implicit is that those who seek forgiveness find it in God.
 
"Although the word 'mercy' does not appear, this parable nevertheless expresses the essence of the divine mercy in a particularly clear way" (St. John Paul II, "Dives In Misericordia", 5).
 
CCC: Lk 15 1443, 1846; Lk 15:1-2 589; Lk 15:11-32 545, 2839; Lk 15:11-31 1700; Lk 15:11-24 1439; Lk 15:18 1423, 2795; Lk 15:21 2795; Lk 15:23-32 589; Lk 15:32 1468
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Reflection:
Today we take a step back from our penitential discipline, adding festive white to our Lenten purple.  It is difficult to maintain our penitential attitude without lapsing into gloom, so today we rejoice.  We rejoice because the love of God is so clearly proclaimed.
 
From the beginning of the human experience of God we find that critical element of love, forgiveness.  We recognize that God’s forgiveness transcends the usual definition we normally use when we use the term.  When God forgives, as we see in the first reading from Joshua, he accepts completely those who have sinned against him, even the sins that were repeated countless times.  We heard in Joshua: “No longer was there manna for the Israelites.”  Remember God provided manna because they had challenged God, even rebuking him for leading them into the wilderness (forgetting that it was from hard bondage they were being led).  Still he fulfilled his promise.  Time and again, like ungrateful children, God’s cherished children have turned away from him and still he welcomes them back, loving them.
 
Forgiveness is also at the heart of our adoption as God’s heirs through baptism.  God’s Only Begotten Son, Jesus, offered himself as a sacrifice, taking onto himself our sins, so that the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven, closed by our fall from grace due to Adam’s original sin, might be opened.  Christ died in the ultimate act of forgiveness.
 
Finally we are offered the parable of the return of the prodigal son.  In this story, one of the three “Mercy Parables,” we understand forgiveness at a very personal level.  It is a story we can all relate to since we live that same story over and over in our own lives.  There is a compelling statement found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that expresses our journey beautifully.  Paragraph # 1439 states:
 
“The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father: the fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father's house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy — all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life — pure, worthy, and joyful — of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.”
 
What better way to celebrate God's mercy than to contemplate our own constant struggle to return to our Heavenly Father?  We see in the prodigal’s return our own attempt to embrace all the Father hopes for us.  We know what he has called us to.  We have heard it in simple terms countless times: Love God and love one another.  We know the Great Commandment and we know how many times we have failed to keep it.  Yet we rejoice remembering all those times God has demonstrated his love for us.  He loved the stiff-necked Hebrew people who rejected him in the wilderness.  He cherished St. Paul who persecuted the followers of God’s Son.  And through the words of the Gospel he reminds us that we may always come home to him.
 
Perhaps the hardest part about understanding God’s love and forgiveness is the knowledge that we are called to be like him in his mercy.  We too are called to love others, even others who hate us.  The part we play is not just the returning son in the story of the prodigal son; we are also the elder brother who became upset at his father’s forgiveness. 
 
Today we rejoice in the Father’s relentless love that allows us to experience his forgiveness.  We recognize that we too are called to forgive others.  It is this call to constant conversion that drives us forward on a journey to our loving father who will welcome us into his loving arms.
 
Pax

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[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1636.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] The Word Biblical Commentary, Joshua 1-12, Volume 7A, © 2014 by Trent C. Butler, pp. 334-37.