Leading to the Light

The Roman Catholic Lectionary for today, the fourth Sunday of Lent, tells of breaking the darkness in our misdirection away from the will of God with a call to return to the Light of Living in intimate relationship with the Divine. The texts from the Second Book of Chronicles are, according to Friar Jude Winkler, a reflection on the Exile of the people of Jerusalem in Babylon, which resulted from the unfaithfulness of the people to their tradition of looking with trust to God for guidance in dealing with the real world situations which impact their community. The psalmist presents the lament of the people in exile as they live this separation from the Temple and Jerusalem. The Persian King Cyrus, the pagan, the foreigner, the outsider is the agent of freedom who sends them back to Jerusalem to the New Temple. The light of the relationship with God will shine in the hearts of the remnant who return. Fr Larry Gillick urges us to ensure that we listen to the passage from Ephesians very carefully and that it be read very slowly to allow the deep richness of each phrase to sink in. The graciousness of God toward humanity is the source of the desire we have to follow Him in the manner of Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night to understand better the Light which Jesus radiates. The trust which we are called to have and present as Light to others is that we live in an intimate relationship with God that informs our actions. Our actions become the Light and the lifting up of the Son of Man today. The extent to which we have the empowerment to be Christ to others is the extent indicated famously in John 3:16. He gave all ( His Only Son). Following Him opens our heart to be His Presence in the trust that there is no limit to the grace available to show the world "the immeasurable riches of His Grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7)