Fourth Sunday of Lent

Reflection

“For God so loved the world that…” These are the words of the narrator in John’s Gospel of one of the most famous and well known biblical verses in all of sacred Scripture. We see the citation 3:16 at sporting events on signs held by fans, written on walls in cities and even tattooed on people’s bodies. “For God so loved the world that…”

We can all probably fill in the sentence with our own ideas of what God has done because of His love for the world. First and foremost, what God has done out of love was to create us. Each human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Because of this act of love in creation, God bestowed upon each person a special dignity because of the way He created us. We are created in the image and likeness of God — all of us — all races, all nationalities, regardless of gender or sexual orientation or however else we or others seem to define us, all of us are created in the image and likeness of God. God’s image is in the face of every person. Think of that.

What is easy to lose sight of are the forgotten people God has created. These are the most vulnerable in society. The homeless, the mentally handicapped, those seemingly trapped in the cycle of addiction from generation to generation, the poor who cannot make ends meet, and those who are dying alone. Jesus paid particular attention to the plight of widows and orphans because they were the most vulnerable in society during biblical times. Today the vulnerable in our midst are not just widows and orphans, they include many others. Regardless of their sins or past actions to hurt others, they still retain that special dignity God gave them in creation. Because God is rich in mercy, He continues to love them. The question is: can we do the same?

Prayer

Almighty God, help us always to see the dignity of the person before us, especially in those most vulnerable so we can share in the ministry of Christ to those in our midst and be an instrument of God’s love. Amen.

Fr. Brian Cummings, S.S.E. ’86, Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry

Scripture

First Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23

Psalm 137:1-6

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:4-10

Gospel: John 3:14-21

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website