Sr. Laura 主持信仰重温再慕道聚會

Sr. Laura Chau 是慈友會修女。全職為大學學生作神師。一個月兩次在 St. Joseph 主持信仰聚會。於星期日午餐後。講廣東話。

4TH SUNDAY LENT (B) 15 March 2015

 Fr. Gerard Kelly

Here in this country we all know to be careful of snakes, particularly when we are out in the bush.  We know that many of them have venom that can kill those who are bitten.  We are not surprised then to see people being afraid of snakes.  There aren’t too many references to snakes in the Bible, but those that are there always present the snake a source of evil and death.  The first place we hear of a snake is in the Book of Genesis and the story of the temptation of Adam and Eve.  Here the snake is the one who brings about their downfall and, consequently, the punishment of the whole of creation.  They are expelled from paradise because of the snake.  So, the snake becomes a symbol of evil and sin.  It is a symbol of the break of the relationship with God, but also the breakdown in human relationships, and even the breakdown of the harmony between humankind and the rest of creation.

Another place where we hear of snakes is when the people are wandering for forty years in the desert.  The people had been complaining that God had brought them out into the desert to die, so God sent snakes to punish them.  The snakes would bite people and they would die.  Moses prayed that God might do something to save the people.  So God told Moses to make a bronze snake and to put it around a pole and lift it high so that it towers high over all the people.  Anyone who looks at the snake will be saved.  This seems an odd command.  But let’s think about what is going on.  By lifting the snake high the people are forced to look on the very thing that is bringing evil and destruction on them.  It is as though they are forced to see more clearly the evil around them.  And, of course, this snake would symbolise their own complaining and turning away from God.  But God wanted it to be the way that they would be healed.

It is this scene with Moses in the desert that it referred to in the Gospel today.  However, it is not a snake that is lifted up; Jesus himself will be lifted up.  Here on this fourth Sunday of Lent, we are being invited to begin to contemplate Jesus lifted up on the cross.  We are invited to begin to reflect on the fact that his death on the cross is the source of our being saved, and healed, and offered a secure future.  It seems very simple: we just have to look at Jesus on the cross.

But it may not be as simple as it seems.  It may be that we are so familiar with the image of the cross that it no longer has much of an impact on us.  We no longer see its horror, or the evil that is associated with it.  Think for a moment of what images you have seen recently that do shock you and cause you to pause and ask questions about good and evil.  Perhaps it is starving children who are trapped in refugee camps.  Perhaps it is random acts of killing that we have seen on our TV screens when a lone gunman who gone into a school in the USA.  The cross no longer has the same impact on us.

Just this week I heard one of our Australian bishops talking about a visit a small delegation of bishops made to Lebanon and Syria at the end of last year.  They visited many Christians who had been forced to flee from their homes and towns.  These people had been expelled so quickly that they were not even allowed to take anything with them.  This bishop commented that the cross he wore around his neck was the most powerful thing he had to offer.  The people would come up and touch the cross or kiss it.  In the midst of all that had happened to them the cross was a sign of the hope that they still carried in them.  They had nothing; so all they could do was to trust God.  I am sure too that the cross was also a symbol of the evil that they had experienced and were fleeing.  Jesus on the cross stood in solidarity with them.

In the Gospel today Jesus speaks about light and darkness.  When the light shines the darkness is exposed.  God is the one who shines a light on our world.  Jesus makes it clear that God loves the world, and that God is not condemning the world, but rather offering it salvation.  But to see that salvation we need to look at the cross.

In this time of Lent we look at the cross in order to see the love of God.  As Jesus said, God loved the world so much that he gave his only son, so that anyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  The more clearly we see the love of God the more clearly we will see the darkness of our own lives.  Lent is a time to shine a light on whatever darkness is in us.  Often we don’t even recognise the darkness in our lives – we don’t see it; we are blind to it.  However, if we listen to the word of God and if we gaze on the cross we will begin to see more clearly what it is that stands in the way of our relationship with God, our relationships with the people around us, and even our connection to the larger creation.  God desires that we learn to love more deeply.  Let us during these weeks of Lent see in the cross the great sign of God’s love for us.  And when we see this love, let us recognise where we need conversion in our own lives.