4th Sunday in Lent – Year C (March 14th 2010)

4^th Sunday in Lent – Year C (March 14^th)  - Reflection by Fr Nick King SJ

Readings: Joshua 5:9-12    Psalm 34:2-7    2 Corinthians 5:17-21    Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Next Sunday is mid-Lent, or “Laetare” (=Rejoice) Sunday, when traditionally we relax our Lenten austerity, to gain the strength to keep going.

The first reading records a spectacularly joyous event, when the incoming Israelites celebrated their first Passover in the Promised Land, “in the plains of Jericho”. And on the day after that, they begin a new regime, a sign of God’s fidelity: “they are of the fruit of the land, unleavened bread and parched grain”. Not very appetising, you may feel, especially when we immediately learn that “no longer was there manna for the children of Israel, and they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan that year”; In one sense this marks a step back, because they now had to work for their food (and indeed to fight for it). But at least it was their own; and it is also a clear statement that God is on their side.

The psalm for next Sunday is out-and-out rejoicing “I shall bless YHWH on every occasion, his praise constantly in my mouth; in YHWH my soul shall glory”. We may notice, though, that this God is seen as being on the side of the marginalised: “the lowly shall hear and rejoice”, the poet says, with an untranslatable Hebrew pun. Everyone is invited to “make God great”, because God can be found by those who seek. And so the invitation uttered thousands of years ago by the psalmist can still be ours today: “look towards him and be radiant; let their faces not be ashamed”, and again the psalmist builds on his own experience: “this lowly one called, and YHWH heard; from all his troubles he rescued him”.

In the second reading, the tone is slightly different. For Paul is begging his quarrelling and intractable Christians to get their act together (and we shall do well to heed his plea, just past the half-way stage of our Lenten journey). We can however rejoice at what God has done in Christ: “if anyone is ‘in Christ’, they are a new creation”, he insists; “the ancient things have passed away – look! They have become new”. Paul here wrestles with a metaphor that comes close to the messy reality of Corinth, that of “reconciliation”: so, says Paul, “everything comes from God who has reconciled us to himself in Christ, and gave us the service of reconciliation”. The idea is used three more times in the passage, as the emotional level rises, and Paul is reduced to begging, “be reconciled to God”, almost in tears as he remembers what God has done in Christ: “the one who did not know sin he made into sin on our behalf”. There is matter for rejoicing here, if we understand it aright.

And that is even more true for the gospel. It is that loveliest of all Luke’s stories, which we may aptly entitle “The Prodigal Father”. The setting is that the “Pharisees and scribes” had been complaining about Jesus giving hospitality to “sinners” and having parties with them. In response, Jesus tells three stories about parties that were thrown to celebrate the rediscovery of what had been lost (which is you and me, just in case you were wondering): a sheep, a coin, and, finally, in the story that is ours next Sunday, the son who got lost, through his own selfish callousness. He is not an attractive character; he addresses his father as though he were already dead, and insists on “my share” (while I am still young enough to enjoy it). He eventually returns home, but only when he has really hit rock bottom. He even practises a little speech, which he is never allowed to deliver. For his father “saw him when he was still a long way off, and had compassion on him”. Then the Father (for it is clearly God of whom we are speaking) throws a party for this undesirable youth, just like Jesus. And this raises another difficulty; for there is another unattractive son, the dutiful but seething Elder Brother, who, like Jesus’ opponents, does not think that partying is at all an appropriate response to this scapegrace. So the father goes out to him, to implore him to join the fun. And will you? For Luke does not tell us how the Elder Brother responded. It is up to you, today, to decide whether you will make this mid-Lent day into “Rejoice Sunday”.