March 14, 2021 Fourth Sunday of Lent

2021년 3월 14일 사순 제4주일 

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

<이스라엘 백성의 유배와 해방으로 주님의 분노와 자비가 드러난다.>

제1독서

역대기 하. 36,14-16.19-23
그 무렵 14 모든 지도 사제와 백성이
이방인들의 온갖 역겨운 짓을 따라 주님을 크게 배신하고,
주님께서 친히 예루살렘에서 성별하신 주님의 집을 부정하게 만들었다.
15 주 그들 조상들의 하느님께서는 당신 백성과 당신의 처소를 불쌍히 여기셨으므로,
당신의 사자들을 줄곧 그들에게 보내셨다.
16 그러나 그들은 하느님의 사자들을 조롱하고 그분의 말씀을 무시하였으며,
그분의 예언자들을 비웃었다.
그러다가 마침내 주님의 진노가 당신 백성을 향하여 타올라
구제할 길이 없게 되었다.
19 그들은 하느님의 집을 불태우고 예루살렘의 성벽을 허물었으며,
궁들을 모두 불에 태우고 값진 기물을 모조리 파괴하였다.
20 그리고 칼데아 임금은 칼을 피하여 살아남은 자들을 바빌론으로 유배시켜,
그와 그 자손들의 종이 되게 하였는데,
이는 페르시아 제국이 통치할 때까지 계속되었다.
21 그리하여 주님께서 예레미야의 입을 통하여 하신 말씀이 이루어졌다.
“이 땅은 밀린 안식년을 다 갚을 때까지
줄곧 황폐해진 채 안식년을 지내며 일흔 해를 채울 것이다.”
22 페르시아 임금 키루스 제일년이었다.
주님께서는 예레미야의 입을 통하여 하신 말씀을 이루시려고,
페르시아 임금 키루스의 마음을 움직이셨다.
그리하여 키루스는 온 나라에 어명을 내리고 칙서도 반포하였다.
23 “페르시아 임금 키루스는 이렇게 선포한다.
주 하늘의 하느님께서 세상의 모든 나라를 나에게 주셨다.
그리고 유다의 예루살렘에 당신을 위한 집을 지을 임무를 나에게 맡기셨다.
나는 너희 가운데 그분 백성에 속한 이들에게는
누구나 주 그들의 하느님께서 함께 계시기를 빈다. 그들을 올라가게 하여라.”

제2독서

<잘못을 저질러 죽었던 여러분은 은총으로 구원을 받았습니다.>

에페소서. 2,4-10
 형제 여러분, 4 자비가 풍성하신 하느님께서는

우리를 사랑하신 그 큰 사랑으로,
5 잘못을 저질러 죽었던 우리를 그리스도와 함께 살리셨습니다.
─ 여러분은 이렇게 은총으로 구원을 받은 것입니다. ─
6 하느님께서는 그리스도 예수님 안에서
우리를 그분과 함께 일으키시고 그분과 함께 하늘에 앉히셨습니다.
7 하느님께서는 이렇게 그리스도 예수님 안에서
우리에게 베푸신 호의로, 당신의 은총이 얼마나 엄청나게 풍성한지를
앞으로 올 모든 시대에 보여 주려고 하셨습니다.
8 여러분은 믿음을 통하여 은총으로 구원을 받았습니다.
이는 여러분에게서 나온 것이 아니라 하느님의 선물입니다.
9 인간의 행위에서 나오는 것이 아니니 아무도 자기 자랑을 할 수 없습니다.
10 우리는 하느님의 작품입니다.
우리는 선행을 하도록 그리스도 예수님 안에서 창조되었습니다.
하느님께서는 우리가 선행을 하며 살아가도록 그 선행을 미리 준비하셨습니다.

복음

<하느님께서 아들을 세상에 보내신 것은 세상이 아들을 통하여 구원을 받게 하시려는 것이다.>

요한. 3,14-21
 그때에 예수님께서 니코데모에게 말씀하셨다.

14 “모세가 광야에서 뱀을 들어 올린 것처럼,
사람의 아들도 들어 올려져야 한다.
15 믿는 사람은 누구나 사람의 아들 안에서 영원한 생명을 얻게 하려는 것이다.
16 하느님께서는 세상을 너무나 사랑하신 나머지 외아들을 내주시어,
그를 믿는 사람은 누구나 멸망하지 않고 영원한 생명을 얻게 하셨다.
17 하느님께서 아들을 세상에 보내신 것은,
세상을 심판하시려는 것이 아니라
세상이 아들을 통하여 구원을 받게 하시려는 것이다.
18 아들을 믿는 사람은 심판을 받지 않는다.
그러나 믿지 않는 자는 이미 심판을 받았다.
하느님의 외아들의 이름을 믿지 않았기 때문이다.
19 그 심판은 이러하다.
빛이 이 세상에 왔지만,
사람들은 빛보다 어둠을 더 사랑하였다.
그들이 하는 일이 악하였기 때문이다.
20 악을 저지르는 자는 누구나 빛을 미워하고 빛으로 나아가지 않는다.
자기가 한 일이 드러나지 않게 하려는 것이다.
21 그러나 진리를 실천하는 이는 빛으로 나아간다.
자기가 한 일이 하느님 안에서 이루어졌음을 드러내려는 것이다.”

March 14, 2021 

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23

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.

Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers,
send his messengers to them,
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God,
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets,
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed
that there was no remedy.
Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem,
set all its palaces afire,
and destroyed all its precious objects.
Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon,
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah:
"Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths,
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest
while seventy years are fulfilled."

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah,
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom,
both by word of mouth and in writing:
"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me,
and he has also charged me to build him a house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him!"
 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6.

R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
For there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
 

Reading 2

Eph 2:4-10

Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ -by grace you have been saved-,
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.
 

Gospel

Jn 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 You know what it means to call God your shepherd (sheep herder, if you are from Vermont), but do you ever think of God as a poet and your work as God’s poetry.

Or have you thought of God as a shoemaker and your own daily routines as shoes that God has prepared for you to walk in? Well, I want to share with you how these ways of thinking turn up in today’s second reading, the letter to the Christians in Ephesus. (Here I get a chance to show how the stuff I studied to teach Bible for 40 years—like Hebrew and Greek--can actually help us dive deeper into God’s communication to us.)  Let my try to unpack just one single verse—Ephesians 2:10. But let’s at least provide some context by including the two verses that lead to that verse:

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.  9 It is not from works, so no one may boast.

The English word “grace” here translates the Greek word charis, which is ‘gift,’ but with the emphasis on the action, the process of giving. Since the simple word ‘gift’ doesn’t catch the verbal sense of charis, we applied the word ‘grace’ to translate it. Being rescued by God is more than getting a thing, but being on the receiving end of something God is doing, God’s ‘giving.’  The next clause, This is not from you, clarifies that “saved through faith” does NOT mean that your faith caused the rescue; here your faith is an act of receiving, not any part of the giving of salvation. So when the verse continues, adding “it is the gift of God,” the writer uses another word for gift, this time a Greek word rare in the New Testament - to doron, which was the common word in the Greek world for a material gift, a present, used here because the author wants a different word to emphasize God as the giver of this special giving, which is now underscoring what is also called love (agapē) elsewhere in the NT.

If you did not get the point of verse 8, verse 9 drives it home: It is not from works, so no one may boast. Are some of the Ephesians actually boasting that they that they are saving themselves? Apparently, yes--as we shall see.

Now comes the motherlode of verse 10—first, in the New American Bible version that we hear in church this Sunday:

For we are his [i.e. God’s] handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance that we should live in them [literally, “walk in them”].

“Handiwork” translates poiēma, the Greek noun from the verb poiéō (“I make” or “do”), and the ending -ma which turns the verb into a noun meaning “something made,” which in turn gives us the English word poem. Since the original author is using ‘poem’ metaphorically, not literally, “handiwork” is a good English translation of poiēma, but the lovely resonance with poem shouldn’t be lost on the English-speaking reader.

If God is the maker, his work is surely creation (which renders the precise Greek word here). And that creation, which makes you Ephesians masterworks, “poems,” not random growths, “in Christ Jesus” [baptism, implied in this context]. And it is “for the purpose of good works [epi ergois agathois], in contrast to the BAD works produced by the “self-saving boasters” already mentioned. And what is the nature of the good works? The acts of daily Christian life. But the literal translation of the last word—en autois peripatēsomen (“that we should walk in them”—the very rendering of the King James Version). To “walk in” is a Hebrew idiom meaning to live according to a certain spirit (good or evil), as our author also uses the word in Eph 2:2; 4:17, and 5:8. So when the author tells the Ephesians to walk in the good works that the Master worker has prepared for them by re-creation in Christ Jesus, the picture that emerges is that the actions of Christian living are like pairs of shoes divinely cobbled precisely for you to walk God’s path in companionship with the risen Lord Jesus. Of course it takes the whole letter to make this clear.

Loving God, we want to do our best to grow up in loving you and fellow creatures. But please spare us from thinking that our perfectly reasonable self-improvement projects are what you invite to in the call of this holy season of Lent. Help us to recognize that only you can truly save us. Help walk in the shoes you have fitted so carefully to our uneven feet. Help us desire to be the “poetry” that you can use to help the rest of the human family recognize you in what we do as we walk you path in the way of your Son, Jesus our Lord and savior. You are the source of all gifts and the enabler of all giving.

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

 

ALL WORKED UP?

“We are truly His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds.” —Ephesians 2:10

On Ash Wednesday, we began Lent, and the Lord commanded us to keep our works of mercy secret (Mt 6:4). At Easter Vigil, we begin the Easter season, and the Lord through the Church will ask us whether we reject all of Satan’s works.
Works are important although we are not saved because of them (Eph 2:8-9).  “Faith without works is dead” (Jas 2:26). We will accept or hate the light of Christ depending on our works, for those doing good works will want the light to manifest them while those doing bad works will not want them exposed to the light (Jn 3:19-21).
We not only do good works; we are God’s good work (Eph 2:10). We have been created anew “in Christ Jesus for the good works” (Eph 2:10, RNAB). Our good works are so important that God Himself has prepared them even before He created us (Eph 2:10). We are not only to do good works but to live in them (Eph 2:10). Good works are the very atmosphere in which we live.
If we die in Christ, our good works will accompany us (Rv 14:13). God promises that He will not forget our works and the love shown Him by our service to His people (Heb 6:10). On Judgment Day, the Lord will judge us based on our faith and love, as expressed in our works (Mt 25:31ff). Therefore, “let us not grow weary of doing good; if we do not relax our efforts, in due time we shall reap our harvest. While we have the opportunity, let us do good” works (Gal 6:9-10).

Prayer:  Father, reveal to me the works You have planned for me each day. May I do them all for pure love of You.

Promise:  “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life.” —Jn 3:16

Praise:  Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 Do you know the healing power of Christ's redeeming love and victory which he won for us on the cross? The Old Testament prophets never ceased to speak of God's faithfulness and compassion towards those who would turn away from sin and return to God with repentant hearts, trust, and obedience (2 Chronicles 36:15). When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus he prophesied that his death on the cross would bring healing and forgiveness and a "new birth in the Spirit" (John 3:3) and eternal life (John 3:15).

The "lifting up" of the Son of Man
Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the "Son of Man" must be "lifted up" to bring the power and authority of God's kingdom to bear on the earth. The title, "Son of Man," came from the prophet Daniel who describes a vision he received of the Anointed Messiah King who was sent from heaven to rule over the earth (Daniel 7:13-14). Traditionally when kings began to reign they were literally "lifted up" and enthroned above the people. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that he will be recognized as the Anointed King when he is "lifted up" on the cross at Calvary. Jesus died for his claim to be the only begotten Son sent by the Father in heaven to redeem, heal, and reconcile his people with God.

Jesus points to a key prophetic sign which Moses performed in the wilderness right after the people of Israel were afflicted with poisonous serpents. Scripture tells us that many people died in the wilderness because of their sin of rebellion towards Moses and God. Through Moses' intervention, God showed mercy to the people and instructed Moses to "make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live"(Numbers 21:8). This miraculous sign was meant to foreshadow and point to the saving work which Jesus would perform to bring healing and salvation to the world.

Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD), an early church father, explains the spiritual meaning of the bronze serpent and how it points to the saving work of Jesus Christ:

"This story is a type of the whole mystery of the incarnation. For the serpent signifies bitter and deadly sin, which was devouring the whole race on the earth... biting the Soul of man and infusing it with the venom of wickedness. And there is no way that we could have escaped being conquered by it, except by the relief that comes only from heaven. The Word of God then was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, 'that he might condemn sin in the flesh' [Romans 8:3], as it is written. In this way, he becomes the Giver of unending salvation to those who comprehend the divine doctrines and gaze on him with steadfast faith. But the serpent, being fixed upon a lofty base, signifies that Christ was clearly manifested by his passion on the cross, so that none could fail to see him." (COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.1)

The cross defeats sin and death
The bronze serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness points to the cross of Christ which defeats sin and death and obtains everlasting life for those who believe in Jesus Christ. The result of Jesus "being lifted up on the cross" and his rising from the dead, and his exaltation and ascension to the Father's right hand in heaven, is our "new birth in the Spirit" and adoption as sons and daughters of God. God not only frees us from our sins and pardons us, he also fills us with his own divine life through the gift and working of his Spirit who dwells within us.

The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual power and gifts, especially the seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence for God and his ways, and a holy fear in God's presence (see Isaiah 11), to enable us to live in his strength as sons and daughters of God. Do you thirst for the new life which God offers you through the transforming power of his Holy Spirit?

The proof of God's love for us
How do we know, beyond a doubt, that God truly loves us and wants us to be united with him forever? For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). God proved his love for us by giving us the best he had to offer - his only begotten Son who freely gave himself as an offering to God for our sake and as the atoning sacrifice for our sin and the sin of the world.

This passage tells us of the great breadth and width of God's love. Not an excluding love for just a few or for a single nation, but a redemptive love that embraces the whole world, and a personal love for each and every individual whom God has created. God is a loving Father who cannot rest until his wandering children have returned home to him. Saint Augustine says, God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. God gives us the freedom to choose whom and what we will love.

Jesus shows us the paradox of love and judgment. We can love the darkness of sin and unbelief or we can love the light of God's truth, beauty, and goodness. If our love is guided by what is true, and good and beautiful then we will choose for God and love him above all else. What we love shows what we prefer. Do you love God above all else? Do you give him first place in your life, in your thoughts, decisions and actions?

Lord Jesus Christ, your death brought life for us. May your love consume and transform my life that I may desire you above all else. Help me to love what you love, to desire what you desire, and to reject what you reject.

Psalm 137:1-6

1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: He descended so that we might ascend, by Hilary of Poitiers, 315-367 A.D.

"God, who loved the world, gave his only begotten Son as a manifest token of his love. If the evidence of his love is this, that he bestowed a creature on creatures, gave a worldly being on the world's behalf, granted one raised up from nothing for the redemption of objects equally raised up from nothing, such a cheap and petty sacrifice is a poor assurance of his favor toward us. Gifts of price are the evidence of affection: the greatness of the surrender is evidence of the greatness of the love. God, who loved the world, gave no adopted son but his own, his only begotten [Son]. Here is personal interest, true sonship, sincerity; not creation, or adoption, or pretence. Here is the proof of his love and affection, that he gave his own, his only begotten Son." (excerpt from ON THE TRINITY 6.40.27)

More Homilies

March 11, 2018 Fourth Sunday of Lent