Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missalette March-April 2022

Fourth Sunday of Lent (C) “Laetare”
4th week, Sunday cycle

FIRST READING

From the Book of Joshua (Jos 5:9a,10-12)
At that time, the Lord said to Joshua: “Today I have removed from you the reproach of Egypt.” The Israelites camped at Gilgal and celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. The day after the Passover they ate the produce of the land, unleavened bread and roasted grain, on that same day. From the following day onward, once they had eaten the produce of the land, the manna ceased. The Israelites no longer had manna; that year they ate the produce of the land of Canaan. - The word of the Lord.

Reflection on the first reading

What the passage from the Book of Joshua describes is a moment of immense joy for the people of Israel: finally, after years and years of arduous wandering in the desert, after miraculously crossing the Jordan River, all the Israelites have entered the Promised Land. The dream has come true! The promises were therefore true: they are truly in the place that God had always prepared for them. And what do they do as their first official act? They celebrate Passover, that is, they perform the rite of “passage” that they had experienced decades earlier when leaving the slavery of Egypt, and which they can now finally see fulfilled before their eyes. It is therefore not just any celebration or one of purely human joy: it is the acknowledgment that God has kept his promises, and it is, so to speak, “liturgical joy.” It should be the same for us every time we go to Mass. We are not called to perform gestures of exaltation, but to rejoice deeply in what we are about to experience: the passage, the true passage, from sin to grace, has been accomplished in Christ Jesus, crucified and risen for us.

SECOND READING

From the second letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:17-21)
Brothers and sisters, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. All this, however, comes from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. Indeed, 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 in him we might become the righteousness of God. - The word of the Lord.

Reflection on the second reading

The meaning of Christian joy (today is “Laetare” Sunday, that is, the Sunday of joy) is grounded in the fact that in Christ we live a truly different life. If it is true that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1), we have no other reason than to thrill with profound wonder. All this does not come from us, the Apostle points out, but from God, who reconciled us in Christ. Therefore, let us set aside every other consideration and perspective: today we look at the mystery of the Lord’s sorrowful Passion for the fruits that flow from it. We fix our eyes on “the one whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37) and sing the hymn of victory. We cannot and must not be sad, because sadness, Saint Francis of Assisi said, is Satan’s evil. Jesus wants us to let ourselves “be reconciled to God” so that he may give us his own life. Who said that God wants us to be happy only in the next life? He wants it in this life too, absolutely! Certainly, there will always be reasons to suffer, because sin still exists in the world, but today we contemplate the full and definitive victory of the cross, which is an act of love.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 15:1-3,11-32)
At that time, all the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all he had and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance by living extravagantly. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in need. So he went off and 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 far 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. 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 come 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.’” - The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection on the Gospel of the day

What astonishes and converts the prodigal son is not so much the father’s pity in welcoming him back, but the celebration he organizes in his honor. The boy had already prepared his “return speech”: he had really messed up, had asked his father for his inheritance and had offended him in every possible way; now he was returning, and it was necessary for him to come with his tail between his legs, downcast and humiliated, in the hope of being readmitted. Instead, the father does not even let him finish and - notice this - does not even say a word to him. He embraces him, then turns to the servants and orders them to immediately prepare the most extraordinary celebration ever held on the estate. The young man had not expected this kindness and celebration. We can imagine how embarrassed he was… He truly did not know his father. Perhaps he would have preferred a few months of penance, but instead he finds himself swept into the celebration with new sandals, a ring on his finger, and must eat succulent food and dance to the sound of lyres. And it is this celebration that enrages the older son! Not that the younger son has returned, but that he is welcomed in that way! Thus, heaven rejoices when a sinner returns to the fold. Could it perhaps be this way every time someone enters Paradise?