4^th Sunday of Lent (C)

150^th Anniversary of the SVDP Conference of the Parish of St. John the Baptist

Port Glasgow

 1. The season of Lent calls us to conversion of heart. The discipline of Lent – a discipline of prayer, fasting and almsgiving which we undertake during these weeks- is to help us move with God’s grace towards an authentic interior renewal. We confront our sinfulness, we ask God’s mercy and forgiveness, and we seek the grace to grow in faith and in love. In this way we prepare for the mysteries of Easter and for a deeper life in Christ.

 2. It is good then to hear today the message of God’s readiness to forgive. One of Jesus’ best stories is the parable of the prodigal son. This parable shows us a magnanimous, loving and merciful Father who readily and warmly accepts the halting steps of his wayward son towards repentance of his foolish ways. Even though the more dutiful and faithful elder son looks askance at this display of mercy, the Father insists in his merciful intention and lovingly receives his wasteful son back into his intimacy and restores him to his place as his son. “This son of mine was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”

 3. We realise with joy that this is the same merciful Father who regards us with such love. He looks on our inadequate Lenten efforts and is moved with tenderness. He sees our imperfect contrition and is still determined to forgive us. He is patient with our struggles through life, with our mistakes, with our weakness, and is still prepared to allow us our dignity as human beings and our privileged status as his beloved sons and daughters. This is the God who engages us in our Lenten programme. This is the Lord to whom we strive to return with all our hearts. This is Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who seeks out his lost sheep and, in the sacrament of Reconciliation, says to each one of us, “My child, your sins are forgiven”. So may this message of God’s abundant mercy help us to persevere with our efforts and good intentions during this season of Lent.

 4. The message of God’s abundance is also present today in our thankful celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the SVDP Conference of this parish of St. John the Baptist Port Glasgow. From its inception, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has pursued one noble Christian aim: to help the needy. And today we thank and praise God for that work, carried out by the men and women of the SVDP Conference of this parish. We remember with pride all those members of the Conference who, inspired by the dignity of every human being, have given witness to God’s goodness and gentleness in their service of the poor and needy in this area. We recognise too that the SVDP Conference of this parish also has a missionary and international dimension with twinning arrangements in South Africa and India. Indeed, God’s goodness knows no bounds.

 5. It is true that society has changed. The nature of the social work undertaken by the state has increased its range and effectiveness, and we are all glad of that. Yet there is still emphatically a place for organisations which are animated by Christian charity. In his first Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Pope Benedict XVI noted with great wisdom that there is no ordering of the state that will ever eliminate the need for a service of love. The Pope identified the distinctiveness of Christian charity in its ability to respond directly to needs with a simple humanity. This kind of charity does not of itself aim at changing the world ideologically; it is not at the service of a strategy for social change; it simply aims to make present the free and generous love which human beings need, a love which ultimately gives active witness to the gratuitous and immense love of God in Christ.

 6. So today we thankfully congratulate the SVDP of this parish on its 150^th anniversary and encourage the men and women of this Conference to continue with their work of Christian charity to give help to all those who need it and to continue their work with the new poor who suffer from addictions, homelessness and from the limitations imposed by special needs. May God bless you in your works of love and charity. This brings us back to Lent, to almsgiving, and to that renewal of heart which draws on God’s abundant mercy and goodness, and which helps us to love more generously.