Breaking Open the Word
By James Cavanagh
March 14: Fourth Sunday of Lent
Scripture readings:
- Joshua 5:9-12
- Psalm 34:1-6
- 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
- Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Overview:In this week’s Gospel we hear the familiar yet always moving story of “The Prodigal Son.” Some commentators have suggested that the parable should be called “The Prodigal Father,” because of the immense love he lavishes upon his wayward son. The parable is told in the context of those who criticized Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors. The parable of “The Prodigal Son” is one of the most vivid examples of who God is and how he deals with his errant children. In the second reading St. Paul calls those who have been reconciled to God “a new creation.” The life of God lost because of original sin has been restored by Christ through the sacraments of the Church especially baptism, reconciliation and Eucharist. The connection between these two readings and the reading from Joshua is not immediately evident. The key lies in the first verse: “I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” The Hebrew word for “reproach”—cherpah—can also be translated as disgrace, shame or rebuke. Just as God had delivered the Hebrews who had suffered deeply under the heavy yoke of Egyptian slavery—a monumental disgrace—so God in Christ has lifted the oppressive burden of sin by “reconciling the world to himself.”
Key verse: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18).
“Catechism of the Catholic Church”: “There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. ‘There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest’ (St. Augustine). Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin” (No. 982).
Pope Benedict XVI: “The faithful are surrounded by a culture that tends to eliminate the sense of sin and to promote a superficial approach that overlooks the need to be in a state of grace in order to approach sacramental Communion worthily. The loss of a consciousness of sin always entails a certain superficiality in the understanding of God’s love. Bringing out the elements within the rite of Mass that express consciousness of personal sin and, at the same time, of God’s mercy can prove most helpful to the faithful” (“Sacramentum Caritatis,"20)
