In today’s Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Jesus speaks of himself being lifted up on the Cross and how his self-giving sacrifice in the passion was a glorious revelation of God’s love for humankind “The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life”.
The mystery of the incarnation reveals how God is love, how he sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world to bring his plan of salvation to completion. God loved us first and it is for this reason that he gave us Christ Jesus as our saviour and redeemer. In the earthly life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the gate between God and man, between heaven and earth, is opened for all. Christ through his obedience dies, but through his dying he brings eternal life to all who call on his name. In the new relationship with him that comes about, God remembers our sins no more. As Saint Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians, “when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ”.
When we are resurrection focused it helps us to live with an attitude of hope, sharing in the joy of the victory of the risen Christ. When we trust in God’s providence, he clothes us with his goodness and mercy, so that we can become, like Christ, servants of him and others, which helps us illuminate the world we live in with the light of his love as we look forward to the salvation promised to us in eternal life.
Lent is a favourable time for letting Christ serve us so that we in turn may become more like him. This happens whenever we hear the word of God and receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. There we become what we receive: the Body of Christ…If we humbly implore God’s grace and accept our own limitations, we will trust in the infinite possibilities which God’s love holds out to us. (Pope Francis, Message For Lent)
