Third Sunday of Lent

“Repent!”

This is the constant refrain of the prophets in the Old Testament, calling people back into right relationship with God when they had gone astray and begun to worship other powers. This call often comes with dire warnings about what will happen if the Israelites refuse to turn back to God.

Jesus, as the prophet par excellence, continues this call to repentance. In today’s Gospel he exhorts the people to turn back to God, citing contemporary examples of people who had suffered and explicitly using them as metaphors for the fate of those who refuse the gracious love extended by God: “If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

But as the Lamb of God, Jesus not only calls us to repentance but also provides the means for bridging the divide between God and sinful humanity once and for all. By offering himself on the cross for our sins, Jesus demonstrates the full extent of the Father’s love – a love that reaches out to us, suffers for us, and stands in the place of judgement for us.

As disciples of Jesus we, too, are called to demonstrate this type of love for others: to cultivate the ground and fertilize the soil through the Works of Mercy, the proclamation of God’s Word, and walking with others in their journey of faith. As we continue to observe the season of Lent, ask how your prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are calling you and others to continued repentance and conversion. How are you drawing closer to Jesus through these practices? How are they helping you draw closer to others as an example of God’s love?
 
Jonathan F. Sullivan is the director of parish ministries, services, and catechesis for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. He lives in West Lafayette with his wife and eight children.