(The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at St. Louis Church in Alexandria on March 30 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent.)
Part II of II
Therefore, to understand and accept God's love includes our desiring to respond in love and fidelity to Him. This can be accomplished through prayer, in which we come to know and love God more deeply; through penance, which liberates us to love God more freely; through the frequent celebration of the Sacrament of Penance; and through participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which strengthens our intimate union with God. Another concrete way to accept and live out God's love for us is trying to love one another and forgive each other. Sometimes this can be very difficult, so we must ask God for the strength we need to learn to imitate Him in loving and forgiving.
The basic fact that God loves us has implications as well for the tense times in which we currently find ourselves. God loves every human being and calls each person to respond to His love by loving Him and everyone He has created in His own image and likeness. But, in His love, God leaves each person free to respond or not to respond to this two-fold call to love. Because human beings are finite and experience the effects of original sin, they often do not obey God's two-fold commandment to love. We know this to be true because we ourselves fail to obey and, therefore, sin. So, conflicts arise, within us and outside of us, and from these conflicts come oppression, injustice and war.
Our country is at war. We were all deeply saddened and keenly distressed that diplomatic efforts had broken down and that war had begun. As our Holy Father rightly reminds us, war is always a defeat for humanity. War means that the efforts to seek a true peace have failed and the ultimate welfare of humanity has not been secured in ways which would avoid conflict and war. However, peace is not simply the absence of armed conflict, it is the enduring harmony of men, women and children together in God's love.
So, aware of God's love for every human person on this earth, we pray that people everywhere, including those who, to all external observation, reject His love, would be converted and lay down their weapons. We pray that those in the coalition forces will be spared death and injury and return home safely; we pray too for the chaplains who accompany them. We pray for those already fallen and for their relatives and friends who mourn them. Surely, we pray for the people of Iraq, who have suffered so much already because of their leaders' decisions, and who now continue to experience the ravages of war. Indeed, we pray that soon the Iraqi people may begin to rebuild a stable society, rooted in justice, so that they may live in lasting peace and authentic freedom. Finally, we pray, seeking ever the help of Our Lady through her rosary, that people in Iraq, in the Middle East and throughout the world will live, not in the grip of fear, but in the power of God's love, which is so clearly the focus of today's liturgy.
In today's Gospel account, Jesus turns our attention to the clearest symbol of God's ever-faithful love: the Crucifix. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Yes, lifted up before our eyes is God's love made flesh, triumphing over evil, sin and death. Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, we ask Him to draw us and all people closer to Him and to each other in love. In the end, His love " and His love alone " saves us!
