In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, the wise. Amen.
By the rivers of Babylon
Where he sat down
And there he went
When he remembered Zion
For the wicked carry us away
Captivity require from us a song
How can we sing King Alpha’s song in a strange land
So let the words of our mouth
And the meditations of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight
Over I
Psalm 137:1, 3-4
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness and your grace waters the desert. Help us to recognize your hand working miracles beyond our imagining. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new things you are doing, so that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love for all, and its presence in Jesus Christ. Amen.
We are a pilgrim people, a sojourner people: a people living in the midst of a journey. We are on a journey of life, from bondage to freedom, from sin to grace, from death to life. We are like the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. We too are traveling through a wilderness, holding onto the promise of resurrection as we pass from the life of fear to freedom, from desire to hope, from need to fulfillment: from the poverty of our own efforts to the richness of the treasure of life in the resurrection.
We pray: “that our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found”, i.e., our eternal home. (Collect for the 5th Sunday in Lent)
We are a pilgrim people, restless until we rest in thee: restless until we live in the promise of resurrection.
Isaiah 43:16-21 “I am about to do a new thing” – preparation for Passion/Resurrection, Easter
Psalm 126 – harvest of joy -
v. 7b – Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, - Cross
v. 7b - will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves. - Resurrection
Phil 3:4b-14 press on toward the goal
“I regard them as rubbish”, that is, dung – remember the Parable of the Fig Tree, the vinedresser saying, let me dig around it and dung it
John 12:1-8 Mary anoints Jesus
Mary and Martha had prepared their brother for burial.
Leave her alone, Jesus says, as he had said to those accusing the woman caught in adultery: let her be.
How often do we respond as Mary does? Adoring Jesus
What she did: what do you think of that? “I wish I could be like that” –
What she does – what it means changes – or reaches its fulfillment, when Jesus says,
“She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.”
Her prophetic act proclaims that – this is the day of his burial, and the hour of his death is the hour of his glory, the victory of the Cross is at hand – and it also says, he is Messiah, he is Lord – he is the One to be expected, the One to adore.
You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me – warning.
Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. –Martin Luther
As we come to live into the promise of resurrection, we become the story God is telling in the world. So tell this story in me, O Christ, that I may bear in my branches the truth of the vine that gives me life.
From Exodus // Exile to Return; from Cross to Resurrection: Mary anoints Jesus, prophetically anticipating his death; on the First Day, she greets the risen Christ.
Exodus // Exile // Messiah
Ps126
v. 1-4 When the Lord restored (prophetic anticipation)
v. 5-7 Restore our fortunes (petition: may it be so for us)
mourning to joy
death to life
grief to celebration
In him, you have delivered us from evil, and made us worthy to stand before you. In him, you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life. (Eucharistic Prayer B, Book of Common Prayer, USA, 1979)
Phil 3:4b-14
The contrast is sharp at this season between flesh, Law, Lent, and spirit, grace, Easter.
We want to go quickly from one to the other, but must pass through God’s Good Friday on the way.
The contrast sharp at this season of Lent between the human situation – the dilemma of sin, fallen-ness, and the promise of resurrection – spirit, grace, resurrection.
The movement from anger and frustration, grief, and a sense of futility, to hope, joy, and grace, from it cannot happen to we can do it.
If the poor we will have always with us – then:
How do we live into the promise of resurrection in our poverty? In immigration policy? In care for the sick? In healing the mistreated and abused?
How do we respond, ourselves rich or poor, in sickness or health, in good times and bad, to the poor, the sick, the stranger, the child?
Luke 6:20-21
Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
How do we live into the promise of resurrection?
This should be our principle as we examine the issues of today -
- The sick
- Children
- The sojourner
PASTORAL LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND
We respond with a call to social & economic justice, to treatment of the stranger, sojourner, migrant; the sick, the impoverished; schoolchildren; as yes always with us – and we are always to treat them as we would treat Christ. “As you did unto the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did unto me.”
Matthew 25:34-40
34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”
Hope
Faith
Joy
Peace
Love
Mary anoints Jesus: and so she proclaims his death until he comes, and she testifies to his glory. She, the first witness to the resurrection, here begins the telling forth from her soul of the greatness of the Lord. This Mary, like Mary the mother of Jesus, sees the Messiah.
Mary anoints the anointed One, showing to the world that this is the One worthy of praise. He is the son of man, truly human, and more than man: he is our savior and Lord.
We know the truth is coming: we know that death is not the end. We know the final victory belongs to God. And it is revealed to us in Christ. Let us begin to celebrate that victory: let us begin to live into the promise of resurrection.
O Christ, come to us, as you came of old: gathering your disciples, as a teacher; gathering all God’s children, as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings; gathering us to yourself, as you are our Savior. And as you did of old, send us forth in loving service, to proclaim by word and deed the good news of the kingdom of God revealed in you. Amen.
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