Fourth Sunday of Lent

Father Ed Witt, SJ
Homily from the Televised Mass, NewsCenter1
Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2024

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up. 

This verse, as you know, is an allusion to an Old Testament story where the Israelites were in the desert for 40 years, and they started moaning and complaining and doubting God’s care and love for them. They were grumblers and moaners, so God sent these serpents, these snakes to bite them. 

We too are smitten or bitten by sin. Serpents are symbols of sin and of temptation. Now, I don’t know about you; I don’t like to touch snakes. I don’t even like to look at them. But what was the remedy that Moses prescribed from people that did not die of their bites? He took a serpent and mounted it on a pole and he said, “Look at the very thing that bites you, the thing that you’re afraid of and you will find healing for yourself.” 

So, there’s a comparison being made to the serpent being lifted up and Jesus being lifted up. We’re invited to look at Jesus on the cross, to see the love of God for the world. 

The first reading reminds us that God was always sending messengers trying to reach his people. Trying to tell them he loves and cares for them and they were rejected. Finally, God sends his Son and it’s no different. He too is rejected, and he’s nailed to a cross, and we see the love of God on the cross. 

We are also called to look at the cross, to look at the serpent if you will, to what are the sins that we’re afraid to look at, to uncover? Where do we hide them in the darkness? We’re called to bring those into the light, to come to the light who is Christ. 

So, this Lent, come, take a cross, a crucifix in front of you and contemplate it. What does it tell you about your own sin but above all about the love of God?