Scripture Reflection, 4th Sunday of Lent (2 Options), March 30, 2025

Option 1 - Cycle A - for LIturgy Where a Scrutiny Is Celebrated:

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9: 1-41

Option 2 - Cycle C - for Standard Sunday Liturgy:

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Again today our parish will hear two sets of readings. If you attend the mass where our Elect who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil celebrate the Second Scrutiny, you will hear the gospel from John about the man born blind. Other mass- goers will hear from Luke's gospel, the very familiar story of the prodigal son.

Each gospel gives us a fascinating cast of characters. Today, let us look at the older son in Luke and the Pharisees in John. Though different in many ways, they share a common characteristic: in these two gospels these characters get their noses out of joint!

In Luke's gospel the older son tells his father, What the heck! I've been the good son, helping you all along while kid brother goes off on a bender. Then he's the one who gets the party!

In the gospel of John, the Pharisees are very upset with Jesus… not because he cured the man but because he broke the rule. "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath. “

Please note, these are good people. The older son has been a wonderful, dutiful son. And the Pharisees, by and large, were good observant Jews. They are not bad people. They are just shortsighted. They do not see what the father sees when he looks at his prodigal boy and they don't see what Jesus sees when he sees a man suffering. They do not see what God sees because God sees with love and mercy and compassion.

We are all good people. But we say, “Those people should come into our country the right way”… though the "right way "is broken, unbelievably long and burdensomely expensive.

We are all good people. Yet we say about our achievements, "If I can do it, anybody can "… without crediting the advantages we may have because of the color of our skin, the family we were born into, or the education we were given.

Yes, we are all good people… just shortsighted.

Our limited vision causes a couple of problems. First, we re-create God in our image. Instead of seeing each other with the kind of love and mercy and compassion with which God sees us, we shrink God down to the size of our own rules and expectations. Secondly, we can delude ourselves into thinking that our own rule- keeping, good people that we are, is what causes God to love us, that we need to earn that love by good behavior…when, in fact, our good behavior is our grateful response to the knowledge that we have already been loved.

We are all good people. May we use this Lent to try to see each other as God sees us… and become better people.

by: Pat Schnee