FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT - (cycle C) 1998 

Joshua 5:9,10-12
Psalm 34:2-3,4-5,6-7
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3,11-32

Our Old Testament reading for this Fourth Sunday of Lent is a short text from the Book of Joshua, and tells of a renewal of the covenant once the people had passed over to the new land. The difficult experience of Egypt is past. The desert manna is no longer needed as the people can now produce their own food. A Passover celebration is mentioned. Proper attention can now be given this commemoration; some solemnity can be attached to this sign of God's saving work, a sharing of new life. The Lord has brought his people from disgrace to an abundance of blessings.

Psalm 34 blesses God, who rescues from sin and death: "taste and see the goodness of the Lord" (responsorial verse , from vs. 9). God's goodness had been manifested in so many ways over the years of desert experience. The hoped for and longed for blessings of a promised land and prosperity are now realized. Prayers for deliverance have been answered.

Rev. Charles Yost, scj
Nesbit, MS