- Sunday 4, Year C, Season of Lent (Laetare Sunday)
- First Reading ‡ Joshua 5:9-12
The people of God went to the promised land and there kept the passover. - Responsorial ‡ Psalm 33:2-7
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. - Second Reading ‡ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
God reconciled us to himself through Christ. - Gospel ‡ Luke 15:1-3.11-32
Your brother here was dead and has come to life.
The readings capture one of the central themes of the scriptures and our way of relating to God: Exile. Exile happens when we wander away from the path that we know we should be travelling on, and we end up in the deep weeds or the thick bush and find it difficult to know which way to turn. In any of these situations, or in the experience of moral failure, the Lord will respond in the same way – come on home. T’shuvah! Turn around, and come back. Even though we know that we are not worthy, he still is there waiting for us, to allow us to experience the fullness of reconciliation and the gift of becoming a new creation in Jesus.