Laetare Sunday or “Happiness Sunday”: Salvation is free-of-charge!
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21
An Irish missionary priest working in Nigeria had a catechist/pastoral agent working with him. He noticed how dedicated, resourceful and pious he was, yet the man was not a communicant/he wasn’t receiving Holy Communion because he had two wives. The first wife’s name was Mercy and the second wife’s name was Grace. After many years of working together, the priest decided to confront his pastoral agent/catechist on the issue of polygyny. He invited him to his office to speak with him. He advised him to be married in church, so he could be receiving Holy Communion. The pastoral agent asked for some time to reflect on what to do. After some weeks, the pastoral agent came to the priest’s office with both wives and announced to the priest that he was ready for church wedding. The priest protested: “you cannot get married to both women in church, you have to choose one!” In that case, the man said to the priest : “Father, have Mercy, and give me Grace!”
Today is “Happiness Sunday” and we are rejoicing because salvation is free-of-charge! Mercy and grace are the two faces of God that human history shows us everyday. The fact that we meet and see “the good, the bad and the ugly” in human behavior everyday is a testimony to God’s mercy on the “bad and the ugly” and God’s grace towards “the good”. The history of destruction because of sin is over with, the grace of God overshadows his children through the blood of Jesus Christ. Instead of destruction, God’s love covers a multitude of sins: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).
The neat division of our first reading into two parts tells us of what God does about sin, besides punishment—he shows mercy and offers us grace as forgiveness. In the first part of our fist reading, we read the story of exile as punishment for sin, despite multiple opportunities God offers to Israel for conversion. God sent many prophets to Israel to warn them of the impending consequences of their sins, but they never paid attention! Sin evokes and convokes God’s punishment on the sinner. Yet, the same God who punishes sins, when he couldn’t find a worthy Israelite as an agent of Israel’s redemption, uses a non-Israelite—King Cyrus—to show his mercy and forgiveness to Israel. From God’s punishment of sin, through the Babylonian exile, God starts a process of GRACE leading to forgiveness of sins. God’s mercy and forgiveness reach human beings through reconstruction and reforms.
Remorse and compunction are necessary for conversion and reconstruction: mercy and grace are liberally given in a show of remorse and compunction. Our responsorial Psalm (137) tells the shame and humiliation of Israel; above all, their confession of guilt and shame at their experience of exile: in Psalm 137, they tell about the emptiness of their lives without God; their inability to offer God worship because of the absence of the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians. The scales created by sins that blocked their eyes were lifted the moment they realized the enormity of their sins and the need to return home to rebuild their lives and the Temple of God that lay in ruins. At this point, God met them half-way, he sent King Cyrus who offered them the opportunity to return home to rebuild their shattered lives.
The return to Palestine to rebuild the Temple of God, the need to assemble bricks, metals, erect columns, etc. all symbolize the rebuilding of their personal lives and relationships with God brick-by-brick. The image of construction reminds them that relationships too need construction, which necessitates time, patience, hard work and love. Construction and reconstructions, for human persons, is the arena for experiencing God’s mercy and grace. This is part of the meaning of this period of Lent—the reconstruction of our relationships with God.
In today’s gospel, God sends Jesus as his emissary to the world in order to rehabilitate a sinful and shattered world on account of human sins. The mission of Jesus is not for the condemnation of the world, but for the salvation of the world. The incessant circles of sin and redemption take a new turn with the arrival of Jesus Christ in the world. Jesus gives his life as an eternal bond of unity and a guarantee of salvation for human beings. The mission of Jesus to the world is to take care of sin, once and for all. His death and the salvation he won for humanity bridge the gap between each sinner and God. What joins us to God is life itself.
What the human person has to contend with daily is not sin, but the decision either to receive or reject salvation freely offered in Jesus Christ. Saint Paul understands this clearly, when he says, in our second reading: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The fundamental question today is: what are you doing with the gift/grace of salvation you received from God, through the death of Jesus Christ?
“Happiness Sunday” changes the meaning of human life and relationship with God. God is not an intelligent designer, like a human inventor is, because the human inventor does not invent himself or something like himself, he invents something else, a machine. As for God, he invents a part of himself that is inseparable from himself. This is to say that “grace” means “gift”. The fundamental and unparalleled grace/gift of God to human beings is LIFE: both physical and spiritual! Jesus reiterates this point, when he says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh”. Every gift starts a relationship between the giver and recipient of a gift. The life that we have is the relationship we have we God, God’s supreme gift to us!
By sending Jesus into the world to abolish sin, a new love relationship begins between God and every human being. It is no longer the question of sin, but the power of love and grace. Our sins are not hinderances to relationship with God, rather, the recognition of our adoption as sons and daughters of God. Punishment does not take away sins, but love does. It is only the power of love that eradicates sins, and creates a permanent relationship between God and human beings. If you appreciate God’s gift of grace—grace/gift of salvation—in Jesus Christ, the power of the love you have for God will keep you away from sin.
Assignment for the Week:
Repay every ill this week with a blessing.