Dear parishioners,

Lent is the journey of our Christian life where we grow in strength by renewing our charity and our prayer life, in other words our relationship with others, with ourselves and with God. Each Sunday Gospel is a step on this journey.

The First Sunday of Lent, we reflected that Jesus was tempted in the same way that we are. He chose to live under his Father’s promises and he did not give in to the temptations. On the Second Sunday, we heard that Jesus is the Son, the Beloved by the Father in the Transfiguration. Again, we see the strong relationship between Jesus and the Father. On the Third Sunday, Jesus drove out sellers and the moneychangers from the Temple, his Father’s House. The Temple is a sacred place, it’s not just a building, it is his Father’s House, whom he loved. And now on the Fourth Sunday, we hear how God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to save us.

There are two main aspects in all these passages: the relationship between God the Father and Jesus, and the relationship between God and us. Father and Son have a strong relationship and it is always their love which moves and motivates all that they do.

They want to have the same connection with us: the love that they have for us which moved them to save us, to be faithful to their promise to us. It is fascinating how in the Scriptures, that were written centuries ago, we find this language that expresses God’s love for us as a main reason of the Incarnation, God becoming human in Jesus, and from there our Salvation.

Today’s Gospel and 2^nd reading have a very similar phrase: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son” and “God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy”. This is our faith! God’s love is beyond everything and we are called to make his love the foundation of our life.

May we continue on this journey of strengthening our relationship with him so that our love and charity to others may grow as well.

Have a good week, Anabel Gonzalez, FMVD