Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 126:
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Today's Epistle is from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians, beginning at the 3rd Chapter, and the 8th Verse:
Indeed I count everything
as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not
having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may
attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained
this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ
Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that
I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
+ A Reading from the Gospel of John, beginning at the 8th Chapter, and the 1st Verse:
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple; all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."
He has provided springs and rivers of refreshment -- the Sacraments -- for us on our Way toward Him. He has done this for the people he formed for Himself -- us -- that we may proclaim his praise and be with Him in the end.
In today's Epistle, St. Paul tells the Philippians how he has rejected the things and honors of the world in favor of the resurrected Christ. He empties himself out: "...not having a righteousness of my own, based on law...". Here is the basis for the monastic life -- both East and West -- the radical giving of oneself, even of one's own will, to be a tool of the Will of God.
In giving of ourselves, as we do in the Lenten season, we show the depth of our faith, and receive "...the righteousness from God that depends on faith...". Paul says: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect.." -- we are none of us perfect until we stand in the Presence of the Father in Heaven; Here below, we strive as best we can to become like Christ -- to imitate Him.
We all lack perfection, we all sin -- like the woman caught in adultery in today's Gospel. Merely saying: "Lord, Lord", or "Taking Jesus as my personal savior" does not wipe out sin -- it is the first step away from a life of sin, but there are many many ahead.
Significantly, Jesus does not condemn the woman -- He says: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again." He said that to that sinner, that woman, now dead some 2,000 years, and He says it to us every day -- in the Sacrament of Confession.
In the Gospel of John, He says to the Apostles: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." They and their successors, the Bishops and Priests of the whole Church, have been forgiving sins in his name from that day to this.
Lent is the time of reflection, of penitence, and of Penance -- and the time of the year when the Church insists that we go to Confession -- and Communion at Easter. Let us therefore, with St. Paul, empty ourselves of our mundane worries and sinfulnesses, and, forgiven of our sins, sing with the Psalmist: "The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.", as we earthly pilgrims walk the Way of redemption with Christ . . .
In the Name of the Father + And of the Son + And of the Holy Spirit + Amen.