THE WORD IN LENT - Monday, Fourth week
March 11, 2024 - Isaiah 65: 17-21; John 4: 43-54
Through the desert God leads us to freedom, and on this journey we may at times grow tired, but God never grows tired of us! That is a solid reason to rejoice! The Laetare Sunday does not end with the Sunday, it follows through the week as the Word presents to us some remarkable reasons why we need to rejoice!
The journey to freedom, passes through the desert, but it does not end there. Yesterday, the Word instructed us to look beyond and see the horizon and today the Word explains that this horizon is the new heaven and the new earth that the Lord promises to make for us! It signifies a renewal of the entire creation, to begin with, a renewal of our entire selves. The Lord promises to renew us from within, provided we allow the Lord to lead us.
There are so many reasons for God to lose heart over us - the repeated failures on our part, the ever wanting fidelity to God and God's ways, the never satisfied minds that we manifest... these are easily reasons for God to be discouraged with us. Jesus states that candidly in the Gospel: no prophet is accepted in his hometown; you will never believe unless you see signs and portents! Although Jesus says that, he had not given up yet. He goes on to cure that boy: "your son wil live, Go home!" he says!
That is God's mercy towards us. Yes, there are any number of reasons to be discouraged about us. But God never grows tired of us! God sent prophets, leaders, judges and finally God's own Son... but while "He came to that which was his own, his own received him not!" (cf. Jn 1:11). God however did not give up! Instead the Son of God gave himself up, totally, in order that we may be renewed, that we may be made new creation - as St. Paul states, we are new creations in Christ Jesus (cf. 2 Cor 5:17). Isn't that a reason to rejoice!
That is why the responsorial psalm invites us to exclaim: I will praise you Lord, you have rescued me! O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever! Let us listen to the voice of the Lord telling us today, inspite of our weaknesses and our unworthiness - "your soul will live; your spirit will be renewed; you will be transformed!" Let us believe in it and be glad, for the Lord never grows tired of us.