NEEDS

NEEDS -4th Sunday of Lent, Year C

            The manna, the bread-like substance given to the Israelites in the desert ceased when they reached the Promised Land. “No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.” The manna kept them alive physically until they reached the Promised Land. The manna was a sign to the Israelites of the Lord’s care and protection for them in their sojourn in the desert. In their prayers, celebrations and memories, they often recalled the manna. They had rebelled against Moses, who went to the Lord and received the manna for them in the desert. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

            In baptism we become part of the New Testament Passover people passing through this life with the destination of the Kingdom of Heaven. Besides the bread that keeps us alive physically, we need the bread that keeps us alive in our life in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” The new creation we have been given requires a different kind of food, and a different kind of life. “The old order has passed away; now all is new. All this has been done by God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” The life of Christ we have received requires special life supports for our successful passing through this life on the way to the kingdom of heaven.

            The food of the new life in Christ is the living bread of Christ our Lord in the Holy Eucharist and in the Word of God. The bread of life keeps us alive spiritually and eternally as the Lord has promised. To receive this Living Bread come down from heaven we need to stay in the Church. The Lord makes His mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation available to us if we have gone off the beaten path toward our eternal destiny through serious sin or going away from the Lord and His Passover People, and wish to return.

            The gospel is filled with accounts of Jesus’ teachings on God’s mercy and forgiveness. Among the best known parables of Jesus is that of the returning son of Luke’s gospel. The parable can have many names looked at from the sinful son, the sinful elder son, and the forgiving father. Like all the parables, they are about people of all ages and times. It’s clear the Lord came for sinners. And it’s also clear all people are sinners. It’s only a matter of degree.  Like the “tax collectors and the sinners”, we can and do well to gather around Jesus to hear Him. The Lord tells the story of all people. More importantly, the Lord tells the Good News of God’s merciful love toward humans.

            People going away from the Lord probably aren’t too conscious of the Lord’s mercy and their need for mercy. The younger son was concentrating on what he could receive apart from his father’s house. When that ran out, in a moment of truth, he realized that it wasn’t possible to have a good life apart from his father’s house. That’s a crucial moment for people. Without some sense of God the Father’s mercy, a serious sinner may not decide or even think it is possible for them to return to the Lord. That’s a very dangerous state. Evil can use that to keep someone away from the Lord’s mercy. Staying away from the Lord and the Church means someone will go deeper into sin, deeper into despair, and further away from the Lord.

            A saving feature of the younger son was that he still decided to act for his own good. “How many hired hands at my father’s house have more to eat, while I am here starving!” In such a set of circumstances one’s needs can lead someone to return to the Lord and the Church.

            The younger son wanted to be treated like a slave rather than a son. On his return, he learned the father wanted him restored as a son. That was a great revelation to the returning son. It’s often a surprise to sinners returning to the Church in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that they can be restored to their baptismal son-ship. They are not treated as slaves.

            The elder son went away from the mind and heart of his father. He too had to be reconciled. Without reconciliation we can’t move easily through this life on the way to the kingdom of heaven.

We need forgiveness and the bread of life!

Divine Mercy Reflection - #930

“The soul gives the greatest glory to its Creator when it turns with trust to the Divine Mercy.”