Laetare Sunday 2018
Laetare Sunday…..Rejoice in God’s Mercy
On Laetare Sunday we emphasize joy. We rejoice. Somehow it seems hard to rejoice because we live in a sad world.
The Christian message falls on a lot of deaf ears today. We have more people that doubt God’s existence than ever I our society. Our country is still involved in its longest war in Afghanistan. The arms race has been reignited as the Soviet Union talks of new weapons of mass destruction. The dooms day clock ticks closer to midnight. Meanwhile people are losing their health insurance. We also have a prescription drug crisis that is killing thousands. Our country’s list of troubles seems very long. What do we have to rejoice about?
If we feel this way, we are like the People of Israel who are described in the first reading today. The passage from the Second Book of Chronicles is one of the last written in the Old Testament. The writer gives a summation of the history of Israel from the 9th through the 6th century B.C. What the writer describes, is the deterioration of the relationship between God and the chosen people. The people of Israel lost confidence in the one true God. The Kings of Israel allowed false worship in the temple. Statues of foreign God’s were set up. Sacrifices were made to them. The prophets warned against the profanation. The more they preached against the infidelity the more it increased until the Babylonians marched into Jerusalem. Thousands of people were killed, the city was burned. The survivors were taken off into exile. Rejoice? What was there to praise God for?
God was praise because even though people gave up on God, God never gave up on them. The main attribute of God is not justice, no it is mercy. The reading reminds everyone that God did restore Jerusalem.
What does this mercy look like? We have examples if we pay attention. I once knew a man named Jim. Jim had a wonderful wife. He had several sons. His sons were successful, except for one son named Bob. Unfortunately, he had an addiction to alcohol. He was a mean drunk. When he was drinking he would call his Dad in the middle of the night. He would tell Jim all the things he had done wrong as a father. Jim would patiently listen, then, he would then go and pick his son out of the gutter to bring him home to sleep it off. Bob would also come to his parent’s home when he was drinking. He would verbally abuse his mother bringing her to tears. He would threaten his father. He lost his job. His marriage went on the rocks all because of his addiction. Jim took Bob for treatment time after time.
Jim came to me to share his problems. He would tell me how he would help Bob financially. He would share the hurt he felt because of the verbal abuse. I would listen. My heart would break for Jim and his wife. At a certain point I began to have the opinion that Bob was never going to recover. I feared for Jim’s welfare. I thought the toll on these wonderful parents was too much. I advised Jim to cut ties with his son. I said no one would fault him if he did.
But Jim continued to be patient with his son. And then it happened, Bob went to treatment one more time. With God’s help he was able to bring his alcohol problem under control. He got his life in order. He reconciled with his wife. He found a new job. Unfortunately, Bob then contracted cancer. He was terminal. He died a very painful death just when he had found new life. He never went back to drinking, however. Jim stayed by his side throughout his illness. He continued to show Bob love and mercy.
Whenever I think of an example of God’s mercy I think of Jim’s relationship to his son Bob. I doubt I could have shown such charity if I were a father. God’s compassion is like that, far beyond what most of us can fathom. I am sure that many people here could tell similar stories of such forbearance on the part of a parent.
In Eucharistic prayer four we pray these words. “You formed us in your own image…When through disobedience we lost your friendship, you did not abandon us… but came in mercy….so that we who seek you might find you. Time and again you offered us covenants… the prophets…and taught us to hope for salvation.
The message this prayer is that God’s mercy is unending. When we allow ourselves to feel divine forgiveness it can change our lives. Easter is coming, Lent is waning. Now is the time to confess our sins, to ask God’s absolution, to ament our lives. Now is the time to experience the Lord’s mercy. When we do we come to understand why we rejoice.
This is a rough draft, grammar may not be perfect!