4th Sunday of Lent B

Jeff Bagnall • 2 March 2024

The first reading is from the last few verses of the Second Book of Chronicles ( 2 Chron 36:14-23 passim). History is written not just to inform us about the past but so that we can learn something for our present situation and for the future. Much of the history of the nation of the people of the bible was written in the books called Samuel and Kings, then Chronicles was written to tell the story again, all with hindsight and to teach a new lesson to match the situation at the time. At the time of writing Chronicles, the people were in Babylonian Captivity or the Exile as it is called. But after about fifty years they were allowed back by the grace of Cyrus the ruler at the time. God restored them through an unexpected power! The reading tells the last part of this account; it makes the point that God is not just the God of the Israelites; He is the God of all peoples, and they are moved by Him when whatever they do is good and righteous – Cyrus was such an one.

The second reading is from Ephesians ( 2:4-10 ). This book seems to be an encyclical i.e. a letter to be handed around to a whole group of Christian communities; it was written in general terms about the essence of Christian belief and about living in harmony with and for each other. In some of the manuscripts that exist, it is addressed to the Laodiceans, and sometimes just to “the saints” but mostly to the Ephesians which gives it the name we use for it.

As we know, Paul wrote many letters to the Churches that he knew well and addressed their particular situations and problems; in this letter we have ideas that are developed from the thinking of Paul but many think that the letter was not written by him. As well as a different theology, the style of writing is somewhat different as well. Nevertheless all this does not deteriorate from the great value of our inspired reading. The passage we are looking at affirms God’s great love, even for sinners, and says we are “the work of art of God”. It is difficult for the translator to capture the full meaning of some of the key words which literally say God “makes us alive together” (συνεζωοποιησε) in Christ, and “raises us up together” (συνηγειρε), and “seats us together (συνεκαθισεω) in the heavenly (sphere) in Christ Jesus.” We are just utterly involved in the life of God because He is totally in the whole of our lives (it’s a gift from God).

In the gospel ( John 3:14-21 ) we read words on the lips of Jesus addressed to Nicodemus. First of all a reference to the incident in the Old Testament ( Numbers 21:4-9 ) when Moses told the people who were ill to look towards the serpent lifted up (on a pole – a sign to be followed). So also Jesus will be lifted up (the same word is used each time), and those who believe (follow his way) will live with eternal life. It is in this section also that we have many beautiful phrases about the pattern of life we should lead and the love of God for us. This is the first time in this Gospel that the author uses the phrases “eternal life” and “lifted up” which have such a deep meaning (alluded to and expressed in the reading we had from Ephesians). The author of this Gospel uses words well; here he uses ‘light’ in a mystical, poetic but also in an ordinary sense, for shining a torch or switching on a light always reveals the reality that is there but otherwise unseen, and it is unseen because of the darkness (which is also a symbol of disbelief and wickedness). We shall use this symbol with the Easter (Pascal) candle on Holy Saturday when we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin through the fulfillment of His life on earth at His ‘passing’ (His dying and rising).

Read Jeff's Jottingson the ideal human.

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Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

4th Sunday of Easter 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 21 April 2026

The first reading repeats the introduction from last week so as to make sense, for there follows a continuation of the previous words spoken to the crowd by Peter. The people have been moved by the accusation of putting Jesus to death, and they want to know what they can do. Peter calls upon them to be baptised. As John the Baptist seems to have preached to his listeners, Peter begins with the need for repentance and the need for baptism. You could feel sorry for the past but this repentance means ‘change your attitude to life.’ Baptism is a washing symbolic of starting with a clean sheet; here it is for starting a new life caught up in the life of the risen Christ. In his life our past is transformed; those baptised will have the forgiveness of past sins. The words translated ‘forgiveness of’ could equally well be translated as ‘release from,’ meaning a freedom from the debilitating affects of past sins. Those baptised will share in the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of God. God wants people of all kinds to come into this communion with Him.

3rd Sunday of Easter - 2026 - Year A

15 April 2026

In Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, today’s first reading is the first sermon from Peter after the resurrection. The literary style is not that of a Galilean Jew, but the content is believable as a very early expression of the initial preaching about Jesus. In this first century account of the beginnings of Christianity, Peter is a key figure in the growth of the early church, together with Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles. It is significant that it is a Jewish audience in Jerusalem that Peter is addressing. Jesus is referred to as the Nazarean and there is uncertainty whether this means a man from Nazareth or one specially dedicated to God, as for example, Samson in the Old Testament, called a Nazirite. The understanding of Christian beliefs develops over time, so Peter speaks about God working through Jesus where we might be clear that Jesus is Himself God; but he does see Jesus as the fulfilment of the hopes of the Old Testament and quotes Psalm 16 verses 8 to 11, which was a song originally about someone faithful to the Lord, maybe king David, being looked after by Him; (it is used for the responsorial psalm this day). In the sermon Peter accuses the Jews of engineering the death of Jesus in an anti-Semitic way; this attitude was decried by the Church most noticeably in the 20th century in the Second Vatican Council initiated by Pope Saint John XXIII, with the words: “Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any person, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” (The Church and non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, Oct. 1962). But for us the positive message from Peter’s sermon is that the Spirit of God is now poured out into creation because of the resurrection of Jesus destroying the deadliness of death and the power of evil in our lives. The second reading is part of an address to early Christians, probably Gentile converts. It is about what it means to be a Christian, noting that it is brought about by Christ – the writer uses the word ‘ransomed’, but no words can really capture the mystery of it. The mystery is that the final age has been initiated thanks to the work of God in Christ, through His life and death. The imagery of the sacrificial lamb which is used is derived from the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish Temple which at the time of this letter had been destroyed. And those addressed are living like people in exile and are urged to conduct themselves reverently in this situation; this reflects how the Jews were when they were in exile in Babylon, they had to work at it to keep themselves true to their calling. So, though we are elevated in our being through the work of God in Christ, we are for the time being in this world and must live here in a way becoming of our status.