Sunday Mass for the 4th Sunday of Lent 2021 - Year B

00:06 - Our celebrant today is Jesuit Fr. Russell Pollitt SJ.

00:36 - In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

00:39 - [Amen. ] The grace and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

00:45 - [And with your spirit. ] And welcome as we come together to celebrate this 4th Sunday of Lent, also called Laetere Sunday.

00:54 - We rejoice because the feast of our salvation draws nearer.

00:59 - And we also today have a change in the colour of vestments, we wear rose colour, as you will notice, from the stole that I am wearing today.

01:09 - We come before the Lord, we know that we are weak, we know that at times we fail, and yet, we rely on God’s mercy.

01:17 - So let’s bring the brokenness of our lives before the Lord asking him for the forgiveness, the mercy, and the courage that we need to be faithful disciples of Jesus, who is the Christ.

01:35 - Have mercy on us, O Lord. [For we have sinned against you. ] Show us, O Lord, your mercy.

01:42 - [And grant us your salvation. ] May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting.

01:50 - [Amen. ] And let us pray: O God, who through your word, reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way.

02:06 - Grant we pray that with prompt devotion and eager faith, the Christian people may hasten towards the solemn celebrations to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

02:22 - [Amen. ] The first reading is taken from the second Book of Chronicles.

02:35 - In those days, all the leading priests and the people were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

02:53 - The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, till there was no remedy.

03:16 - And the Chaldeans burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels.

03:28 - The king of the Chaldeans took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths.

03:51 - All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

03:59 - Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it into writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

04:36 - Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him.

04:41 - Let him go up. ’” The word of the Lord.

04:47 - [Thanks be to God. ] Our response: Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not.

04:56 - [Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. ] By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, remembering Zion.

05:10 - On the poplars that grew there, we hung up our harps.

05:13 - [Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. ] For it was there that they asked us, our captors for songs, our oppressors for joy.

05:27 - Sing to us they said, one of Zion’s songs. [Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. ] Oh how could we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil? If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.

05:47 - [Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. ] Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not.

05:58 - If I prise not Jerusalem as the first of my joys.

06:03 - [Oh let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. ] A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians.

06:21 - Brethren, God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by the grace you have saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

06:57 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.

07:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

07:23 - The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God. ] Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! God so loved the world that he gave his only Son: that whoever believes in him should have eternal life.

07:59 - Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! The Lord be with you.

08:15 - [And with your spirit] A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.

08:21 - [Glory to you, O Lord. ] At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ” For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

08:49 - For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

08:59 - He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

09:11 - And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

09:23 - For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest their deeds should be exposed.

09:32 - But the one who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been wrought in God.

09:47 - The Gospel of the Lord. [Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ. ] Jesus often has conversations in John’s Gospel.

09:59 - You will discover if you read John’s Gospel that Jesus likes a good chat.

10:05 - And on this 4th Sunday of Lent we hear a snippet of a secret conversation that takes place between Jesus and Nicodemus and it happens at night.

10:19 - Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. His prominent role and position in the national cabinet, called the Sanhedrin, made him the custodian of the great tradition of his time.

10:34 - And he was expected to be an expert on God.

10:40 - Seen with Jesus would compromise him. The whole visit and conversation seems to be shrouded in ambiguity.

10:52 - And yet, in every conversation Jesus has in John’s Gospel, think for example, of the woman at the well in the next chapter of the Gospel, Jesus uses it as a teaching moment… Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about the need to experience the presence of God and offer oneself to God.

11:17 - Knowing God is much more important than gathering information or data about God.

11:26 - In speaking about being born from above, Jesus doesn’t mean that we need to somehow re-enter the womb, but rather refers to a rebirth in the Spirit of God one that he is offering to Nicodemus.

11:46 - Notice how in that conversation in that short bit that we hear in that conversation, Jesus speaks about key moments in the history of salvation– he talks about the serpents, and Moses in the desert, he recalls Israel’s history of grumbling to God.

12:05 - The lifting up of the serpent, of course, echoes the lifting up of the Servant in in the prophet Isaiah, and later Jesus himself.

12:15 - The mention of God giving his son reminds the reader of Abraham who was prepared to offer his son to God, the comparison between light and dark points back to the book of Genesis itself when God separated light and dark.

12:35 - God’s love for the world echoes the loving God of the prophets.

12:41 - You see, Nicodemus is expecting God to come sometime in future to judge the world.

12:50 - That’s what they hoped. But in John’s Gospel, Jesus has already done this by becoming incarnate, by coming to live amongst us.

13:02 - Eternal life is already available, it is not something that is going to happen in the future.

13:09 - Besides this encounter, we know very little about this fellow called Nicodemus, except that months afterwards, he is able to postpone that inevitable clash that happens between Jesus and the Sanhedrin.

13:28 - And after the death of Jesus, we hear that Nicodemus assists Joseph of Arimathea in retrieving the broken and dead body of Jesus.

13:41 - But I want to suggest that Nicodemus teaches us three things today in his secret conversation with Jesus.

13:54 - And these three things, I believe, we are invited to take into conversation with the Lord.

14:01 - The first one is that we live in a world where we are influenced by all sorts of things – developments are happening around us all the time.

14:11 - And some of these developments are good, and some of them are not so good.

14:18 - Many are gifts of God for us, and God wants us to enjoy them, but others are not necessarily God’s gifts to us.

14:28 - But notice how Nicodemus is not afraid to question.

14:34 - He does not swallow everything that happens around him, even though he is a member of the Sanhedrin, he still has questions about faith and about God.

14:47 - He thinks things through and is carefully seeking something deeper, something more authentic, something more life-giving.

15:00 - We should not take things on face value we should seek deeper meaning in this time of Lent, we should seek authenticity in this time of Lent.

15:11 - In a world of much misinformation especially on things like social media, where fake news seems to thrive, we should always be suspicious and ask questions.

15:29 - We have an even more serious responsibility – to think and to think again.

15:35 - And that’s an important part of the Lenten journey – allowing ourselves to question, to think things through, to seek the truth and not to be duped by whatever fashion is happening around us, or the latest proclamation somebody makes on Twitter.

15:59 - The second thing I think Nicodemus invites us to do, is he alerts us to what happens when we buy in a system, where we try to “master” everything.

16:14 - When we try to master theology, or scripture, or tradition, or rules, or regulations, and think we have the answers to everything.

16:25 - He teaches us that courses in religion and theology are no substitute for faith and conviction.

16:34 - For Nicodemus, God is much more than information and data, much more than a formula that if we add the sums correctly all the figures will balance.

16:47 - God is much more than the rules we make and sometimes even, as he would know, the rules that we try to impose on others – God is first and foremost a friend (approachable as Nicodemus approaches Jesus), a lover, a Lord and a Saviour.

17:11 - God patiently waits for us day by day, and even, as we see in this encounter, at night Jesus waits for Nicodemus.

17:24 - Rather than approaching Scripture as something to master, or God as someone whom we think we can fully understand or master, Nicodemus teaches us that the reversal should take place.

17:40 - He teaches us that we should allow God to master us.

17:45 - We must be cautious that we do not buy into any theological outlook which tricks us to thinking that there is one way and one way only of understanding God and that we can master that one way.

18:03 - The key to Lent is allowing God to master us! And the third thing that Nicodemus teaches us, and I think is clear in all the readings today is the subtle difference between judging and condemnation.

18:27 - I’ve been thinking about this a lot. On Twitter to judge is to, for example, be the daily bread of some.

18:39 - I don’t know, but of late, I really wonder about what Twitter says about our humanity.

18:46 - You see, to judge is to assess, but to condemn is to damn.

18:54 - As Christians, we need to judge because we need to keep discerning how things in the world can be reconciled with the things that we hold to be true.

19:07 - But condemnation is the prerogative of God, and God alone.

19:16 - God who sees all and loves all is the only one who can condemn.

19:25 - In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that God has forfeited his right to condemn but rather, sent him, Jesus himself, to be the light of the world, to be the truth and our Saviour.

19:44 - The Gospel reminds us that if we condemn, we have condemned ourselves – and that’s something important to note! God does not condemn us – John tells us that even when we were lost and in darkness – in our most destructive behaviour, the saving light of Christ is always available to us, always inviting us to move from darkness to light, to come into the light.

20:17 - Fr Greg Boyle, who I’ve quoted before, the founder of Homeboy Industries – a gang programme to try and help young people get out of gangs in Los Angeles – puts it like this in his book, “Tattoos of the Heart” – “God would seem to be too occupied and unable to take his eyes off us, because he is loving us, to spend any time raising his eyebrow in disapproval. ” “God would seem to be too occupied, and unable to take his eyes off us because he is loving us, to spend any time raising an eyebrow in disapproval.

” Let’s pray today that as we rapidly move now towards the end of Lent, that we would be able to think things through, that we would be able to become more reflective, more authentic and life giving, by questioning what we need to question.

21:26 - Let’s pray that we would allow God to master us and, finally, let’s ask the Lord to show us the difference between judging and condemning so that we may truly discern how God is calling us and all those around us into his light, and into his love.

22:04 - Let’s join together now as we make a profession of faith, and let’s pray together the Apostle’s Creed: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

22:45 - I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

22:56 - [Amen. ] God’s word has been spoken to us through the Scriptures, and we respond to that word now by bringing our own needs, the needs of our church and our world before the Lord.

23:19 - For all who follow Christ: That they may walk in the light of truth and goodness.

23:26 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For those who hold public office in society and in the Church: That the light of truth and justice may shine forth in their words and actions.

23:42 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all who use social media and work in the media: That they would do so with integrity, seeking to proclaim the truth, and that they would guard against spreading fake news.

24:02 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For our world: That the world would be delivered from the darkness of war, violence, injustice, pandemic and poverty.

24:18 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For the sick and the lonely: That the light of Christ would shine gently on those who are sick and feel isolated.

24:32 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For those who are victims of abuse in the Church and in society: That these dark deeds would be brought into the light so that the victims can find healing and peace.

24:50 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For enlightenment: That the light of Christ would shine forth in our minds and hearts so that we would ask questions, allow God to master us and learn not to condemn others in this time of Lent.

25:11 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all who have died: That God’s eternal light will shine on all our departed brothers and sisters.

25:23 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] Lord our God, we bring these our prayers into the light, asking that you hear them and answer them as you know best through Christ Jesus, your Son, and our risen Lord.

25:41 - [Amen. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this bread to offer: fruit of the earth, and work of our human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.

26:14 - [Blessed be God for ever. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this wine to offer: fruit of the vine, and work of our human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink.

26:34 - [Blessed be God for ever. ] Let’s pray, sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice and the sacrifice and efforts of all our lives, may be acceptable to God, who is our almighty Father.

26:58 - [May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all God’s holy Church. ] We place before with joy these offerings which bring eternal remedy, O Lord.

27:14 - Praying that we may both faithfully revere them and present them to you as is fitting, for the salvation of all the world through Christ, our Lord.

27:23 - [Amen] The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit. ] Lift up your hearts.

27:33 - [We lift them up to the Lord. ] Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

27:36 - [It is right and just. ] It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

27:46 - For you have given your children a sacred time for the renewing and purifying of their hearts.

27:52 - That freed from disordered affections, they may so deal with the things of this passing world, as to hold rather to the things that eternity endure.

28:03 - And so, with all the angels and saints, we praise you as without end we proclaim: Holy, Holy, Holy [Lord God of hosts.

28:10 - Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

28:18 - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

28:21 - Hosanna in the highest. ] You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness.

28:27 - Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dew fall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

28:38 - At the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his Passion, he took bread and, giving thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

29:03 - In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the cup and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR ALL FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

29:22 - DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. The mystery of faith.

29:38 - When we eat this bread, and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.

29:46 - Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his death and Resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the bread of life and the cup of salvation, giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you.

29:57 - Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by your Holy Spirit.

30:04 - Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of charity, together with Francis our Pope, Buti our Bishop, Duncan his assistant, and all the clergy, and all who minister to your people.

30:20 - Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy.

30:28 - Welcome them into the light of your face. Have mercy on us all we pray, that that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Saint Joseph, her spouse with the blessed Apostles, and all the Saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life, and may praise and glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ.

30:54 - Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever.

31:04 - [Amen. ] It was the Lord Jesus who taught us to call God our Father, and so we have the courage to pray: Our Father, [who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

31:28 - Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ] Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, and graciously grant peace in our days.

31:46 - That by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

31:56 - [For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. ] Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign for ever and ever.

32:17 - [Amen. ] The peace of the Lord be with you always.

32:21 - [And with your spirit. ] Let’s take a moment now to for peace, peace in our own hearts, peace in our country and in our world.

32:44 - And we pray together: Lamb of God, [you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

32:50 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

32:57 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. ] My sisters, my brothers, behold, Jesus, the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world, how blessed are we who are called to share in the supper of the Lamb.

33:24 - [Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. ] May the Body and Blood of Christ bring us all to life everlasting.

33:37 - [Amen. ] Although you cannot receive physical communion with us now, we invite you into a moment of spiritual communion.

33:52 - The great medieval theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, defined spiritual communion as: “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament”, and “a loving embrace as though we had already received him. ” His words are echoed by the great mystic, and fellow doctor of the church, St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: “When you do not receive Communion, and do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion which is a most beneficial practice.

34:24 - By it, the love of God will be greatly impressed on you. ” At this moment we invite you to focus on Christ, and your longing for union with him.

34:38 - Express your desire to feel his grace coursing through you, giving you strength and courage, particularly in these difficult times.

34:48 - In your desiring union you are united with us, and to Christ.

34:54 - In this moment we experience the reality that is already here.

36:30 - Let us pray. O God who enlightened everyone who comes into this world, illuminate our hearts we pray with the splendour of your grace, that we may always ponder what is worthy and pleasing to your majesty, and love you in all sincerity through Christ, our Lord.

36:51 - [Amen. ] The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit] Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing.

36:58 - Look upon those who call to you O Lord, and sustain the weak.

37:03 - Give life by your unfailing light to those who walk in the shadow of death, and bring those rescued by your mercy from every evil to reach the highest good through Christ, our Lord.

37:16 - [Amen. ] And may almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

37:22 - [Amen. ] Go now in the peace of Christ, glorifying God with your life.

37:27 - [Thanks be to God. ].