4th Sunday of Lent, Year B

"That the world might be saved through him."


Lectionary Readings for 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B

In today's gospel, we are given a parallel meaning of Jesus' death
on the cross from the Old Testament. The passage that is made
parallel in meaning to Jesus' salvific death on the cross, is the
Old Testament passage, which speaks of Moses lifting up the serpent
in the desert, so that those who were bitten by the serpents, may
be saved from dying. It is this symbolic image which medical
practitioners use in their medical profession.

Many of us forget that Jesus' life and death is meant for us sinners,
so that we may return back to the Father's love. And many of us
fail to see that it is in a life lived with much sacrifice and
pain for the good of others, that will lead us to be like Jesus
more and more, and to follow Him as our Lord and Master.
If we do not sacrifice our lives for others, we will not be able
to see the love of God for us and how much He wishes to save us
from a life of sin, perdition and destruction. God gave His
only Son that we and the whole world might be saved through him.

During this time of Lent, we are given the opportunity to
examine ourselves, and the lives we have been living in the past
months since last Lenten season. We can examine how much we
have returned indeed to the love of the Father and followed the
injunction of the Lord to love others as we love ourselves.
Let us take much time before the Lord to see where we have
also failed in following the great commandment. And if we see all
those times in which we have failed to do so, let us not despair,
but rather continue to have faith in the richness of the goodness
and mercy of God, and approach the sacrament of reconciliation.
Let us remember that the Lord forgave even those who have
killed Him. The Lord knows that His mission is not to kill
but to save those who have sinned and are lost, and that
includes for certain, ourselves, at one point of time
or another.

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B

"Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"
Lectionary Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B

In the gospel readings, we see Jesus getting angry with those who
are using the Temple for business activities. His anger is rooted
in the love He has for the Father's temple as the dwelling place
of God's Spirit. As the people questioned His authority, He then
relates it to the coming event of the destruction of His own body,
which the Spirit will raise up in three days. The people misunderstood
what He meant, because they were thinking in terms of the Temple in
the material world, rather than that of the temple of Jesus' body.

This gospel reading is a reminder for all of us to respect the
Temple of the Lord, His Church. Often, especially those of us who
are so familiar with the parish, we are frequently tempted to speak
and socialize with others who are also active in the parish. We
forget that the parish is a place of prayer and that the Spirit
of God leads all those inside the Church to prayer. When we engage
so much in speaking about secular matters in the parish when people
are praying, in a way, we turn the Church into a "marketplace" where
instead of the spirit of prayer consuming us, it is the spirit of
mammon leading us.

Let us then always remember to respect our parish as the house
where the Lord God lives. Probably, the best way to remind ourselves
is to see the Eucharist as one in which we are led to become more
the Temples of God's Spirit. When we realize how we are made the
Temple of God's Spirit through receiving the Eucharist in the Church,
then we shall truly the parish which houses the body and blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we always invoke the Lord God in
His Temple, His Spirit comes to dwell in us and leads us more and
more into a spirit of prayer: one that reminds us that Christ's
body contains the Spirit of Life - a Spirit which calls us to
the service of respect and praise.

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B

"This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him."


Lectionary Readings for 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B

This gospel passage is the biblical source for the fourth mystery of
light: The Transfiguration of our Lord. Here, we find Jesus being
transfigured before the eyes of the three disciples who were closest
to him: Peter, James and John. As he was transfigured, he became
dazzling white and Moses and Elijah appeared with him - both beside
him. The event was so awe-inspiring that Peter impulsively said that
they were willing to build three booths at that site: one for each
of them: Jesus, Elijah and Moses. However, the three disciples
misunderstood the event. What was important was the message imparted
to them by the Father: "This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him."
Jesus was transfigured for the disciples so that they may believe
that in Jesus, the glory of God may be manifested to all.

Jesus enters our life not once but many times. When he enters our
life, we are called to really listen to him. Sometimes, we become
deaf because of the many noises within us and in our environment,
that we fail to really listen to him. And yet that is what we are
called to really do, for he tells us that he is the Way, the Truth
and the Life. Just as he manifested to the apostles the glory of
God, we too can witness how glorious our Lord is through the many
human and spiritual experiences we go through: in our prayer, in
our reception of the sacraments, in our service to the Church, and
in the many ways he heals us, teaches us wisdom, and shepherds us
to life in him. However this is good for us, to see how glorious
the Lord is, all he asks of us, and all the Father wants us to
really do, is to listen to him. For it is in listening to him
that we obey and do his will.

In this liturgical season of Lent, let us, amidst all our activities
and work, really take some quality time, some quiet time to really
be tranquil, serene, and silent before the Lord our Maker, Creator
and Provider. Let us listen to him more intently and discern what
he is asking of us to do in order to serve him more. Lent is really
a time for reconciling ourselves to the Lord. And what better form
of reconciliation we can perform than to really be at the foot of
the Lord's throne and making ourselves ready to listen to whatever
word he has to say to us. And as we listen, let us not forget to
be repentant and to atone for all our sinfulness. Let us not forget
how sinful we have been, how we have not forgiven those who wronged
us, how we have not really prayed from the heart, how we have not
practiced almsgiving, and how we have lived lives that are not
humble and modest. When we do admit this to him in prayer or in
the sacrament of confession, we shall be placed again in his favor
and really be ready to listen to his word.