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“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This verse is from the Gospel of John, one of the 4 gospels of the New Testament, and is one “every Christian knows by heart,” mentioned Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P., a Washington, D.C.-based Dominican friar and Catholic priest.
Lent, he mentioned to Fox News Digital, helps Christians totally grasp the which means of this straightforward verse.
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John 3:16 “encapsulates the heart of what we believe. When we were estranged from God because of our sin, He sent His only Son to save us. That’s the heart of the Gospel,” mentioned Briscoe.
In the Garden of Eden, “something went tragically wrong,” mentioned Briscoe — and unique sin was launched into the world.
From that time on, “God, in His great love and mercy, called us back to Himself.”
The fourth Sunday of Lent gives a superb alternative to mirror on the context and true which means of John 3:16, mentioned Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P. (iStock/Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P.)
With Jesus’ dying and resurrection, God’s plan for salvation was full.
This verse “is the whole teaching of Jesus in miniature … But maybe not every Christian can tell that story with ease,” he added. “That’s something for us to work on. And the context of this verse can help us.”
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The fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare Sunday, and in contrast to the opposite, extra subdued days of Lent, it’s “a day set aside for rejoicing,” mentioned Briscoe.
The identify Laetare Sunday, which implies “rejoice,” comes from the Latin translation of the primary verses of scripture on the fourth Sunday of Lent, “Rejoice, Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:10).
The fourth Sunday of Lent is a time for “rejoicing” amid the solemn, penitential season, mentioned a faith leader primarily based in Washington, D.C. (iStock)
It is on this Sunday, within the Catholic custom, that John 3:16 is preached annually, he mentioned.
Laetare Sunday is “a day marked by rose vestments and a pause from the rigors of Lent … Lent is about reliving that journey of Jesus. He came to set us free from our sins.”
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Throughout Lent, Christians “focus with particular intensity on the passion, the sacrifice that Jesus makes of Himself for our redemption,” he mentioned.
“And in the Gospel itself, John 3:16 is spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus, who has come to Jesus seeking enlightenment. Nicodemus, a wise Jewish elder who was a pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, wants to know who Jesus is and what He has come to do,” mentioned Briscoe.
The fourth Sunday of Lent is one of two days of the liturgical yr when clergy can put on rose-colored vestments. The different is in the course of the Third Sunday of Advent. (Grzegorz Galazka Mondadori by way of Getty Images)
Later in John’s Gospel, it’s written that Nicodemus was current at Jesus’ burial after His crucifixion.
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“Nicodemus saw this offering of the life of the Son come to pass. What was once hidden had come to light,” mentioned Briscoe.
“The Son offered His life for the life of the world.”
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He continued, “As Nicodemus helped to lay Jesus’ body in the tomb, he must have remembered that first conversation with the Lord held under the cover of darkness.”
On the fourth Sunday of Lent, “Jesus invites all of us to realize the grace and life offered by the cross,” mentioned Briscoe.
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“It’s not a sad story — far from it. It’s one we rejoice over,” he mentioned. “Take a little break from the somber tones of Lent today. Rejoice! For our redemption is at hand.”
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