4th Sunday of Lent - Year B - 4th Sunday of Lent and “Jesus, Remember Me”
There is often a time in a long journey when we find the going hard. The enthusiasm with which we set out has faded, and there is still a long way to go. At this stage in our Lenten journey, we may be inclined to identify with Nicodemus of this weekend’s Gospel (John 2:14-21). As a well known Pharisee, Nicodemus was afraid to consult Jesus openly so he came ‘by night’, weighed down in his heart, no doubt, by an interior darkness of confusion and embarrassment.
In our disappointment with our lives, the darkness often seems so real and overwhelming. This weekend’s first reading tells the story of old Israel – a story of unfaithfulness, stubborn selfishness, destruction and exile – and reminds us how often human history has been filled with darkness. In the second reading from the letter to the Ephesians, Paul confidently confronts this darkness: for him, reliance upon false and selfish securities is to embrace ‘death’.
But it is in the climax of today’s Gospel that our darkness is dispelled, through the words spoken to Nicodemus by Jesus, the ‘Light of the World’! These words are perhaps the most quoted of the Gospels. Let us not take them for granted, but take them to heart and rejoice in the new life they bring (John 3:16):“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”A world weighed down by the darkness of failure and selfishness must know, Jesus says, that he came from the Father, not ‘to condemn the world’ but to bring reconciliation and life.
As we take our bearings in the middle of our Lenten journey, let us find new purpose and energy. Reflecting on how the burdens we carry can bring us to find again, in a more personal way, the essential truth of our Christian faith, the great truth we celebrate at the end of our journey.
In honor of this weekend’s readings, we would like to share our latest video, "Jesus, Remember Me", a beautiful Catholic/Christian Taizé hymn that draws its lyrics from the Gospel of Luke. One of the robbers crucified with the Savior cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Jesus responded, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise".
In the Taizé tradition, short songs are often sung repeatedly with various descants or as canons. The Taizé and many other Christian communities and churches use this type of song as a meditative chant in communal prayers.
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
