Our Present Help
A Homily For The Fourth Sunday in Lent
I have been living in the Dallas area for quite some time now, but one thing that still baffles me is how roads and freeways are named. For example, you can travel on Highway 35 East but still head north or west and end up on 35 North. Similarly, you can travel south from Fort Worth to Burleson yet driving on 35 West. I even recall being eastbound on a road called Northwest Highway! It took me a while to realize that highways and roads in Dallas have more than one name. For instance, the 190 is known as The George Bush Freeway, and by its darker title, the "Toll Road." Similarly, Highway 635 is likewise known as the LBJ highway. By the way, Highway 20 also claims to be the LBJ highway, so there's that.
Furthermore, Hwy 35 has an alias, the SRL Thornton Freeway, and identifies as Hwy 77 for a certain distance. All this is to say that it's important to know the different titles one road or thing can have and their significance. Otherwise, you're bound to get confused, and your journey will be hindered.
Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent. It's Mothering Sunday as well, inspired by the words of St. Paul in today's epistle when he writes, "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Historically, Christians give thanks to their mother, the Church, and their earthly mothers, as Christian children would return to their home churches on this Sunday, to the place they were reborn through baptism, and visit their moms as well.
The fourth Sunday in Lent is also known as Lataere Sunday. The name Lataere comes from the first few words of the traditional Latin procession verse for today, "Laetare Jerusalem" or "Rejoice, O Jerusalem," which is taken from Isaiah 66:10. Therefore, today is not only the fourth Sunday of Lent but also a day of rejoicing or "laetare."
But wait, there's more. Today is Rose Sunday as well. The penitential purple gives way to the beautifully muted hue of the rose. The vestments signal a muting or dampening of penitence to make room for joy. Notice the barren altar teeming once again with beautiful roses, pulling spring's beauty, vibrancy, and life into the Church, into these barren and difficult forty days of our Lenten exile.
Every year, on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, amidst the spiritual battles faced in the Lenten wilderness, Rose Sunday blossoms like a rose in the desert, bringing the miracle of spring into our beleaguered souls to refresh us with the joy and hope of Jesus Christ, who, on Easter morn, arose from the dead like a wild rose the earth could not suppress.
Rose Sunday, Mothering Sunday, Lataere Sunday, all these names for the fourth Sunday in Lent point to our refreshment. And I don't know about you, but I could use some refreshing. I need to be strengthened. I need to be reoriented to hope, life, and eternal glory because being in the desert is hard, even with God. Just think of the Israelites whom we read about earlier. They've been in the wilderness for forty-five days and can't take it anymore.
If you start at the beginning of today's lesson, taken from Exodus chapter 16, we read, in verse one "And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt." So, fifteen days plus thirty days is forty-five days.
Forty-five days ago, God destroyed all the Egyptian Gods and broke Pharoah's will. Forty-five days ago, they walked out of Egypt as freemen, not slaves, their masters lavishing them with gifts and goods as they departed. Forty-five days ago, the Lord stopped the waters and parted the sea by which these people escaped Pharoah's thundering chariots. Forty-five days ago, they watched as their enemy, the Egyptians, were swallowed up in the waters and forever vanquished. And yet, they demand that Moses take them back to Egypt.
Returning to Exodus sixteen, verse two, "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." They're murmuring, they're complaining, they're not happy.
Sometimes, the wilderness journey can become so difficult that we'd rather return to a former state of bondage and servitude than press on with God. Have you ever been there? Perhaps you're there today. Let's be honest; the memory of a good thing isn't always enough to keep us going in the present. And future hope often isn't enough to stop us from finally folding up shop and giving up.
The Israelites were exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. They were lost and didn't know how to reach their destination. Despite experiencing God's power, faithfulness, and deliverance, it didn't relieve their current troubles. They were promised a land of prosperity, fertility, and abundance, flowing with milk and honey, yet their hope for the future was fading rapidly due to their overwhelming circumstances. The God who saved them also promised to bring them home, yet God's past faithfulness and trustworthy future promises seemed distant and empty. They had forgotten that the God of their past and future is also the God of the present.
The great multitude following Jesus in the Judean wilderness is like the Israelites; they are "like sheep without a shepherd." Their lack of food and water has made them vulnerable. They've been following Jesus for days, exhausted from wandering and without means of finding food. They need the refreshment of their bodies and the refreshing of their souls. But who will feed them? And furthermore, who can feed the soul?
Jesus, looking out and seeing an enormous number of hungry, harassed, and struggling people (5,000 were just the men!), turns and asks Phillip this very question: "Phillip, where on earth can we buy enough bread to feed all of these people?" Phillip answers, "Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little." In other words, Jesus, even if we had a million dollars, we'd still come up short, and the people would remain hungry." Wrong answer. Phillip failed the test (remember Luke tells us that Jesus is asking as a test to prove the man because Jesus already knew what he would do).
Phillip fails the test because he fails to recognize the One who provides all our needs, who came down from heaven to feed us the bread of life and immortality. Phillip failed to see what the Israelites failed to see: that the God of our past and future salvation is the God of the present: "He alone is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps 46:1).
Jesus. Only Jesus can supply our needs. Only Jesus can turn scarcity into abundance, affliction into comfort, doubt into faith, turn sorrows into joy. Jesus stands upon the mountain and says, "Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Who does Jesus call? Who does he invite? The weary. The burdened. The heavy laden; you who are having a really hard time; you for whom life is dealing a particularly difficult hand; you who are beyond overwhelmed by tribulation, anxieties, doubt, or sorrow.
He says, "Come to me," not someone else or any place else, but "to Me," because no person or thing in this world will refresh, relieve, and restore your soul. The exclusive nature of this call (that Jesus is the only way to life) is, at the same, inclusive of all people: his arms are open wide. "Come unto me" is the gracious invitation to any and all; no one is excluded, and all may come and be refreshed. He calls to the weary, to the downtrodden, to the needy.
Who needs to be refreshed in the Lord? Don't worry; he sees your need and knows your concerns, for Luke tells us it is Jesus, not his disciples, who first noticed and looked upon the crowd with compassion. Though your present suffering seems insurmountable, Jesus sees you. And as St. Luke reminds us, Jesus "already knows what he is going to do." He will come and say, "Sit; lie down in green pastures." Then he will gently take you by the hand and lead you out of distress beside the still waters.
My friends, Jesus will restore your soul. And like Israel in the desert, when the weight of suffering brings murmuring, complaining, and even sins against the God of your salvation, remember this: he will not forsake you but lead you into the paths of righteousness for his namesake. For his name is mercy and grace. The Rose of Sharon will surely refresh you in the wilderness of this life, simply to turn to him in faith, acknowledge your need, and take his yoke upon you, which is easy and light.
Beloved, He who sustained the lives of his people, Israel, in their wanderings, is the same Lord who sees our needs, listens to our complaints, and responds by caring for our bodies and souls. Jesus is the True Manna, which has come from heaven. His body and blood are the abundant, life-giving food given to sustain and keep alive within us the vision of that eternal city, the Heavenly Jerusalem, at the end of our journey.
I am keenly aware of the trials and tribulations we are facing in our personal and corporate lives. And it’s easy to forget the past. Standing firm on a future promise is hard as well. But here’s the reality: Jesus is with us. He is with you in your present troubles. He is with us in the wilderness. "I will rain bread from heaven for you," and this bread is Jesus. He stands among us and bids us, "Come unto me all weary and heavy-laden; I will refresh you!" No, not with Israel's manna, which lasted only a day before spoiling! But with the eternal and life-giving bread of his body, the life-giving cup of his blood.
So, let us believe and trust God, not doubt as Phillip and Andrew. And when we struggle in the wilderness, don't be tempted to return to the "good old days," and don't give up on future hope. No, with humility and faith, fall to your knees and pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." And then wait for the Lord to rain down bread from heaven, to fill our bodies and refresh our souls, that we might persevere through tribulation and attain all He has promised to those who love Him. Amen+
