THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B
"Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice and is nourished by giving. Without sacrifice there is no love." St. Maximilian Kolbe
In today's first reading, the Lord announces a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah through the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord would replace the Old Covenant with a New Covenant. Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant will be written in the people's hearts – "I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD." The letter to the Hebrews teaches obedience to Jesus, the source of eternal salvation. Through the suffering and death of Jesus in obedience to the Father, we experience the New Covenant. In the Gospel, through His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus is about to be glorified. The narrative accounts for Jesus' struggle to accept the cup of suffering and death: "I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."
The fifth Sunday readings prepare us for the forthcoming celebration of Easter – the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God demonstrated His love in His New Covenant to reconcile us to Himself by sending Jesus to die for us on the cross. Christ gave himself through his suffering and death on the cross. The example of Jesus teaches us that new life and eternal life are possible only by the self's death. Life in Christ is meaningful when we spend our lives for others. On this fifth Sunday of Lent, the readings challenge us to reflect on Christ's self-giving and sacrificial love. Let us learn to sacrifice ourselves by spending our lives for others.
May the Lord who died for us give us courage, strength, and love. Amen
Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 654: - The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B
“Behold Jesus Christ crucified, who is the only foundation of our hope; He is our Mediator and Advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and He never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.” - Saint Charles Borromeo
In today's first reading, the second book of Chronicles narrates the consequence of the Israelites' failure to listen to the prophets and repent. It insists on the irresponsibility of the people who, by refusing God's way, condemn themselves to unhappiness – "In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD's temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem." Unfortunately, their infidelity led them to exile in Babylon. In the second reading, St. Paul tells the Ephesians salvation is a gift from God based on grace through faith. In the gospel reading, St. John teaches that God has expressed His love, mercy, and compassion for us by giving His only Son for our salvation.
The natural human tendency is to follow the more comfortable way, not necessarily the better path. Often, this road separates us from God. It leads us into the darkness of sin. But Christ's way is always the way of light. As we rejoice in anticipation of Easter on this fourth Sunday of Lent, let us appreciate the gift of our salvation. Christ expressed his love in his desire to die for us on the cross to win us salvation. Despite our sinfulness, our crucified Lord continues to be merciful upon us. Let us dismiss the preferences and actions that keep us in the dark and take the path leading to truth and goodness.
May the Lord free us from darkness and keep us in the radiance of truth. Amen
Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 397: - Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.