2213AFC040122 – Time for an upgrade!
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Year A Restoration, resuscitation, but not Resurrection.
Ezekiel 37:14 – 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.
Psalm 130:3-4 – 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
Romans 8:9 – 9 But you, you do not identify with your old nature but with the Spirit — provided the Spirit of God is living inside you, for anyone who doesn’t have the Spirit of the Messiah doesn’t belong to him.
John 11:14-16 – 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Year C New and improved, without any warranty restrictions.
Isaiah 43:18-19a – 18 Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Psalm 126:6 – 6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Philippians 3:8-9 – 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
John 8:7b-11 – “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
This weekend marks the Third Scrutiny for the Elect, the Catechumens preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil Mass. That’s why we have front-loaded so much Scripture at the beginning of this post. I’m going to try to tie all of them together, and not overwhelm us with the outcome.
The theme for the Year A (Scrutinies) readings is Restoration, resuscitation, but not Resurrection. The theme for Year C (Regular Lenten Sunday) is New and improved, without any warranty restrictions. Now that’s not exactly biblical, but we’ll trust the Holy Spirit to make sense of it. We’re going to run the readings parallel || and make a few (we hope) short comments about them. The underlined portions are my-emphasis-added. Here we go!
Ezekiel 37:14 – 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live AND Isaiah 43:18-19a 19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? That’s pretty easy to pair up, right? This is part of the account of “them bones, them dry bones.” God is promising that Israel will be restored and the restoration will make them better than ever because they will have his Holy Spirit flowing in them. And the end of Sunday’s passage he says, “you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.” That goes right along with Isaiah’s prophecy about “a new thing.” The Lord is telling Isaiah that HE is the one who put water in the desert and even the beasts of the desert acknowledge and honor him. What is this new thing? The renewal of Israel after their long period of penitence brought about by turning away from him. Should we not also long for that Spirit of Hope to come to us as we prepare for Passion Week and Easter? I encourage us to ask, “How and why have I been changed by my participation in this Lenten journey. Have I been restored and improved?” If for any reason our answer is not satisfactory to us, we still have time to work on it – the rest of our lives, or before Easter, whichever comes first. 😉 
Psalm 130:3-4 there is forgiveness with you AND Psalm 126:6 come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Psalm130 is counted among the “Penitential Psalms.” The Psalmist asks, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?” When we hear this Psalm (↔ Audio Link!), we hear the sound of Hope. “I am a sinner, but you, O Lord, can make me whole.” Please recall that to be “made whole” is to be cleansed of any and all obstacles to worshiping at the Temple. Persons with blemishes on or in body or soul were prohibited from entry. Psalm 126, (↔ Click Link) , one of the “Psalms of Ascent,” expresses how one feels when we are made whole. The preceding trope says, “Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” Many of us have long-lasting trials and burdens, but God assures us that these times will not last. We can count on him to stand by us (↔ Music Link) with unfailing help through all those ups and downs (or, for some of us, down and down and more down). I should also comment here that many times folks have wondered what is meant by bringing in “the sheeps.” Of course we can see that it says “bringing in the SHEAVES,” but what does that mean? It means that the work we do when hindered by sorrow brings the reward of a bountiful harvest in the end. As we often say here, “It’s always good in the end. If it’s not good yet, it isn’t the end yet.” God’s forgiveness is certainly a fine reason to shout for JOY!
We continue with Romans 8:9 – 9 But you, you do not identify with your old nature but with the Spirit AND Philippians 3:8-9 I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. We can see how this lines up with the reading in Ezekiel. We receive a renewal of Spirit, a new life. We are reminded of another Penitential Psalm, Psalm 51 (↔ Another Audio Link!), which says in verse 10 – Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit. The Hebrew word here for “resolute” is kun {Koon} and it brings the image of firm, directed, stable, ready, and determined. That is certainly a “new nature” compared to our old and sinful nature inherited from our First Parents! Again, we often say here, “Why would you want anything less?” Compared to our restoration to Grace, there is nothing in this World that could be a greater harvest – BIG SHEAVES! WHEN IT’S TIME TO MAKE OUR Exodus from this Lent, we would do well to remember that with every Easter there is a Calvary and a Tomb. The Cross and the Tomb are of the World. Easter is of the Kingdom, and that’s where we’re going.
We’ll finish up with two truly remarkable Gospel readings – the story of Lazarus, and the story of the “woman taken in adultery.” We have John 11:14-16 “Lazarus is dead.” … “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” AND John 8:7b-11 – “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” … “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” Lazarus, Margaret, and Mary were obviously close friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany (Gr. Béthania Hb. Beit Anya) – a name which means “House of misery” or “House of figs/dates. It was also the home of Simon the Leper (See Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3). Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem on the way to the Mount of Olives and to Jericho. In the story of Lazarus we see that Jesus already knows that Lazarus is dead, but he delays going – and that baffles his Disciples including Thomas, Mary, and Margaret. Jesus waited four days to return to Bethany. Jesus tell them that Lazarus is only sleeping, then he sees that his Disciples cannot understand this meaning, so he flat out tells them Lazarus is d-e-a-d-dead. Jesus announces he is going to Lazarus’ house and Thomas bravely (↔ Click Link) – or pessimistically – says, “Let’s go die with him,” presumably referring to Jesus, not Lazarus. Ultimately, we all know, Lazarus is RESUSCITATED. He is NOT Resurrected. He is brought back to life, but not Eternal Life in a Resurrected (i.e., perfected) body. That is what did and did not happen when Jesus said “Lazarus, COME FORTH!” (↔ Music Link)
In the account of the adulterous woman, she is at the threshold of death – about to be stoned by the community in accordance with the Law – for her sin. Catching her gives them the opportunity to test Jesus’ “purity,” his commitment to keeping the Law. He takes the curious step of squatting down and writing in the dust. We are reminded of Jeremiah 17:13 – 13 Hope of Isra’el, Adonai! All who abandon you will be ashamed, those who leave you will be inscribed in the dust, because they have abandoned Adonai, the source of living water. (Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) – Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved. Used with permission.)
Perhaps Jesus was writing the names of the sins committed in the community, or those of the woman, or perhaps even the names of those holding the stones. In the end, we know, that his challenge to them was to be Holy enough to cast the first stone. Although we are not privy to the woman’s confession of guilt (it was already obvious and she did not contest it against her accusers), we know Jesus saw her sorrow and fear outwardly, and her repentance in her heart. He did not accuse her but told her to CHANGE. As he says to us, “Repent and sin no more.” There an APP for that – God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan. How does it work? It’s simple. We just apply for an Extreme Makeover (↔ Click Link). As we saw last week, God is always standing on the Long Road Home, arms outstretched, waiting for us to turn to him (↔ Music Link). Belovéd, it really is just that easy. A pair of interesting questions came up last week that I absolutely must share with you (again):
What should I be afraid of if I do go to confession?
What should I be afraid of if I do not go to confession?
For our non-Catholic readers for whom conversion is not Sacramental –
What should I be afraid of if I do repent and believe?
What should I be afraid of if I do not repent and believe?
My Dearly Belovéd, it’s time to upgrade our copy of The APP. You can download it at your personal Church Home, or even here (↔ Click Link – really, try it, you’ll like it!) for an annotated copy of our B.I.B.L.E. Get into the Word and it will get into you! AND it’s guaranteed for All Eternity! UPGRADE TODAY!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
