Rejoice in Christ’s Redeeming Love: 4th Sunday of Lent

Since the beginning, God has walked with many of his chosen people. First, the book of Genesis tells us that God walked with Adam, which will prefigure Christ walking with his apostles and disciples. Despite Adam bringing sin into the world through his disobedience, God remained with him.

St. John Chrysostom puts it well, “As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and water after his own death.”

It was through this sacrifice that Christ gave himself and the church that would stand the test of time.

As we are a little over halfway through our Lenten journey, it is a time for rejoicing. Rejoicing in the sense that there is light at the end of the title. Christ walks with us even when we encounter tribulations throughout the season of Lent.

Father Louis Bouyer noted that modernism has made it easy for us to go astray and that a return to Christ is important for everyone. He says, “be ready to refuse unhesitatingly to take any part in activities or amusements which may in themselves be innocent.” But when it becomes immoral, he reminds us to be ready to, “Renounce sin”.

Today, darkness surrounds us. Yet, we can all rejoice in the fact that Lent is in its waning days and we will unite all of our sacrifices and sufferings to Christ who hung on the cross for all of us.

“The light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil” John 3:19