4TH SUNDAY OF LENT

At the close of their program each day, “PBS Newshour” presents the names and photographs of soldiers killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their images flash before our eyes in powerful silence. All of these thousands have given their life for our country. They died for us, and we never knew them. It is hard to believe.
In today’s Gospel, we struggle to appreciate the death of another young man, one who gave his life to redeem us and the world. And, again, it is hard to believe. We ponder how it could be that Jesus died so that we might be forgiven. The Gospel tells us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might now perish but might have eternal life.”
It is, indeed, hard to believe.
Deacon Dick Folger