It is also known as Rose Sunday as there is a good chance that your priests will be wearing rose or pink. The Sunday marks the midway point in Lent. This is also the weekend of the second scrutiny where the readings from last year are used.
On to the actual readings, we begin in the second book of Chronicles. Chronicles is the history book of the Bible it was written after the exile and recast the Jewish kings in light of the exile. The reading today we hear the story of the fall of Judah, exile to Babylon and the release by Cyrus, King of Persia. It begins with the infidelity of all types of people and the ignoring of the warning from the prophets. This really pissed off the Lord and as the Bible says “there was no remedy” for this rage. This seems like it could be happening in the world today, there are so many people who ignore the words of the Popes and pick and choose what to actually believe it (like the use of contraception or divorce). The Psalm today it a prayer that we all should pray, we are all displaced people and we all hope for Zion.
Turning to the epistle this week we hear from Paul’s letter to the Ephesus. Boiled down Paul is saying that our salvation is a gift from the Lord not because we did anything but because of the great love the Lord has for us. Our good works do not justify salvation but are a end result of our purification. We all are sinner and it is through Jesus that we are saved because of the love as we hear in the gospel “For God so loved the world” this is the opposite of what happened in the Old Testament where the Lord got angry and flooded the world or sent the people of Israel into exile. Perhaps we haven’t been as bad as the Israelites, but that seems doubtful. Let us open our ears and hear the messenger of the Lord proclaiming the good news.
As we reach the Gospel we hear from on of the most quoted section of John’s gospel. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that who so ever believes in him might not die but might have eternal life.” The reading begins with Jesus foreshadowing his inevitable death, saying that just like the serpent in the desert, which Moses lifted up and healed people so to will the Son of Man be lifted up to give everyone who believes in him eternal life. We must look toward Christ as an example of how to live in truth. This is how we are to be saved and live in the light. While you are at mass this weekend, look up at the crucifix and stare at it for a bit, as Mother Teresa said “We all know, when we look at the cross, how Jesus loved us, and when we look at the Eucharist we know how much He loves us now.” Let us show Jesus how much we love him in all that we say and do during this upcoming week.
Deep in the well 