Fourth Sunday of Lent
The readings invite, almost insist upon a person’s bold authenticity in God. We can go about our day questioning who we are and at the same time wanting to be treated with ‘respect’ for who we are. In Radical Optimism, Beatrice Bruteau would say we are striving to attain the current accepted look or looking to have the look we have accepted. But who are we really?
In this Sunday’s first reading, the Hebrew people celebrate the first Passover in the Promised Land. Right after that, there was no longer any manna or quails provided. Time to get a job! They have to learn how God would provide for them as children of God by their own labor. The second reading tells us that in Christ we are a new creation. Whatever the old way was, it is time now to live under the providence of God, trusting that who and what we are is sufficient to live the life God is asking of us. In the Gospel, the prodigal son realizes that despite all his errors he is in fact the son of his father. Father Nouwen in The Return of the Prodigal Son, drives home the point that the prodigal son is beloved not because of what he does or does not do but because of who he is, a fact his brother never learned. If I feel I will never be good enough it may be sign that I don’t really know who I am.
In The Healing Power of Illness the authors say that treating symptoms alone never allows us to understand what the illness was trying to tell us. “The aim of any illness is to lead us on to new, unknown and untrodden pastures”. Therefore, every illness can be seen as a crisis of authenticity.
That is, literally, a hard pill to swallow. Can I truly believe that my sense of value and worth come from God who created me or will I continue to believe that my value stems from the acceptance of other people? Who would I be if you took away all my props, my decorations, my ‘other than me’ disguises?
For nations, families, communities and individuals, Lent can be a journey of love from pretense to authenticity.
Father Bryan PattersonCatholic Scholar in ResidenceSt. Francis College
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