11 March 2018
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Art historians are familiar with the four representations of the Gospel writers, the lion for Mark, the angel for Matthew, the ox for Luke and the eagle for John. The reason for John receiving the designation of the eagle comes from a popularly held idea that the eagle can fly directly towards the sun and not be blinded by the sun’s brightness. The gospel reading today recalls this image of John’s ability to deal directly with the divinity of Jesus by proclaiming both his heritage and his mission. For John, Christ came to reconcile humanity to God because a reconciliation was required. This passage from John in many ways lays out the entire gospel by recalling God’s creation, our sinful response, and God’s continued invitation. Our project during lent is and continues through the remainder of this season, is the awareness that we are not perfect and that to move towards perfection we need some divine help. There is much we can do on our own in perfecting ourselves, but much is also required from God. Ignatius was quite familiar with the dual project of developing human nature and attuning that nature to God’s grace. This reading recalls our continued Lenten project of identifying the things we can do to move ourselves towards that same loving God and to identify the graces necessary to finish the race.