Fr. Erik Tjeunfin, SX
4th Sunday of Lent
4th Sunday of Lent
The readings of our fourth Sunday’s Lenten season present to us a beautiful image of God. Our God is so much in love with us that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to save us. No other motivation drove God to send His Son from heaven except his love and goodness. In the Gospel, Jesus says “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It is a strong message of Jesus for you and me, that it is essential or necessary for us to look upon Him, to fix our attention on Him, to lift up our mind and heart (ascend) to Him through prayers and meditation upon God’s word. It is faith required from you and me to have eternal life.
However, faith is not only a matter of ascending our mind and heart to Him but also descending by putting into practice God’s words; imitating Him by serving others. We should pray, meditate upon His Word, and bring His light to the darkness of our life. As we raise and look up to heaven and experience God’s love, we should remember that our feet stand on the earth. We have a mission to bring God’s life and light to others. In the second reading, we see that it is right to say and believe that by grace we are saved through faith. But it is not complete. Maybe we will be asked, so what? and for what our salvation? St. Paul says we are created or saved in Christ for doing God’s work or living a good life. And by that, we have eternal life, a life which has good quality and meaningful deeds for us and others here on earth and in heaven.
In his Interreligious Meeting in Iraq last week, Pope Francis, giving a commentary to God’s promise to the descendants of Abraham, says, “(1) We look up to heaven…Yet if we want to preserve fraternity [and experience salvation here on earth and after], we must not lose sight of heaven. May we…help our brothers and sisters to raise their eyes and prayers to heaven; (2) We journey on earth… we are called to leave behind those ties and attachments that, by keeping us enclosed in our own groups, prevent us from welcoming God’s boundless love and from seeing others as our brothers and sisters.”
In other words, faith in Jesus Christ cannot be separated from loving and serving others. As our hearts and mind contemplate Heaven, our hands and feet should embrace and move to others especially the poor. We bring down the heavenly kingdom and beauty to the earth. The more we look up to Him, the more likely we should become like Him in words and deeds.
As we are approaching Holy Week, we pray that may we always keep our faith in Him and may God strengthen us in our mission to serve our brothers and sisters. Amen.
The readings of our fourth Sunday’s Lenten season present to us a beautiful image of God. Our God is so much in love with us that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to save us. No other motivation drove God to send His Son from heaven except his love and goodness. In the Gospel, Jesus says “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It is a strong message of Jesus for you and me, that it is essential or necessary for us to look upon Him, to fix our attention on Him, to lift up our mind and heart (ascend) to Him through prayers and meditation upon God’s word. It is faith required from you and me to have eternal life.
However, faith is not only a matter of ascending our mind and heart to Him but also descending by putting into practice God’s words; imitating Him by serving others. We should pray, meditate upon His Word, and bring His light to the darkness of our life. As we raise and look up to heaven and experience God’s love, we should remember that our feet stand on the earth. We have a mission to bring God’s life and light to others. In the second reading, we see that it is right to say and believe that by grace we are saved through faith. But it is not complete. Maybe we will be asked, so what? and for what our salvation? St. Paul says we are created or saved in Christ for doing God’s work or living a good life. And by that, we have eternal life, a life which has good quality and meaningful deeds for us and others here on earth and in heaven.
In his Interreligious Meeting in Iraq last week, Pope Francis, giving a commentary to God’s promise to the descendants of Abraham, says, “(1) We look up to heaven…Yet if we want to preserve fraternity [and experience salvation here on earth and after], we must not lose sight of heaven. May we…help our brothers and sisters to raise their eyes and prayers to heaven; (2) We journey on earth… we are called to leave behind those ties and attachments that, by keeping us enclosed in our own groups, prevent us from welcoming God’s boundless love and from seeing others as our brothers and sisters.”
In other words, faith in Jesus Christ cannot be separated from loving and serving others. As our hearts and mind contemplate Heaven, our hands and feet should embrace and move to others especially the poor. We bring down the heavenly kingdom and beauty to the earth. The more we look up to Him, the more likely we should become like Him in words and deeds.
As we are approaching Holy Week, we pray that may we always keep our faith in Him and may God strengthen us in our mission to serve our brothers and sisters. Amen.