This is the law for which many times we can find excuses as to why it does not apply to my particular situation or relationship. Jesus leaves no room for “Yes, but…” Not even the smallest letter of the law of love can be abolished. Yet, if we look at the world around us, there seem to be more and more situations where there are exceptions to the law. One can begin to think that the law of love is an ideal, but that in the real world the exceptions take precedence. This trend is a dangerous path to follow, and it can lead to exceptions being made in many other areas.

Today’s readings pour out an abundance of love. In the middle of this season of obedience through austerity, sacrifice, fasting, and charity, today’s scriptures boldly remind us of the depth and the breadth of God’s love for us. In fact, John’s Gospel quenches all of our human longing for acceptance, belonging, respect, and love. John’s Gospel tells us that actions of our prompt devotion and hopefulness of our eager faith find fulfillment in our lifelong love affair with the Creator of the Universe. Fewer words in scripture frame the mind of God and the incarnation of Jesus with such clarity and magnanimity as we hear today:

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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

We proclaim our belief in Christ crucified every time we gather for the Eucharist. These days of Lent are for us a time to reaffirm that belief in Christ crucified. On Ash Wednesday, ashes in the form of a cross were imposed on our foreheads as we heard the words: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” We journey each week to Good Friday, our commemoration of the Crucifixion. Often during Lent we focus on renewing our lives as individuals. It is also a time for the church, our local communities and the church universal, to be renewed to be a sign of unity in this divided world and an instrument of God’s goodness and peace for all people.

Even now, God’s glory shines in the darkest places of our lives: in times of distress, as Abraham experienced; in times of sorrow, suffering, war, pain, insecurity, and so forth. The glory of the Holy Trinity endures, shines forth even in the most difficult times of our lives, if we hold them up to the light of faith. Even now, we are given intimations, brief encounters, transfigurations of a lesser kind, as we confront the mystery of suffering. The Holy Trinity is truly for us.

Are we curious enough to enter into this Lenten season with open hearts and open minds, to hear the call to “repent, and believe in the gospel”? We enter into these forty days as a time of testing, of tribulation and purification. Any first-century Jew who heard this reading would’ve remembered the forty days and forty nights of the flood during the time of Noah. They would have also remembered the forty years of Israel in the desert; indeed a time of testing, tribulation and purification!

In the gospel story, Jesus told the cured man to tell no one anything, but to show himself to the priest. Sure, we know that the man was made clean of his leprosy. But something else happened in his encounter with Jesus. The man was touched by God. Let me say that again: The man was touched by God. And the need to show himself to the priest is a reminder of this. What did God do to this man? We don’t know because instead of telling no one anything the man went away and publicized the whole matter. I hope he found out. He was cured, but some other kind of healing took place because of God’s love. Such love always changes us. He became more like God.