Fifth Sunday of Lent - April 7, 2019
Infinite
in·fi·nite | \ˈin-fə-nət
adjective 1. Without limits and impossible to measure or calculate
I love
dictionaries. Most reference material, really. I might add that I have a
respectable collection too. One could easily connect that unfortunate glitch to
warm fuzzy childhood memories of my grandfather working his cross word puzzles
in the furthest nether reaches of our living room. I would sit just waiting for
him to look up at me over his spectacles and say something like “Hey Squirt,
give me a three-letter word for blunder.”
“Do you
not perceive it?” This line of today’s first reading tugged at something inside
me. God’s new thing takes the shape of monumental hospitality. The Lord
instructs his people to forget the former things and advises against dwelling
in the past. The hand extended to you will not always be a miraculous parting
sea. Memory creates expectation and expectation may prevent you from seeing the
power of God in more subtle works. However, God’s ways are impossible to
measure or calculate.
The
second reading finds Paul recognizing what was lost in order to become closer
to Christ. He mentions justice, and in my experience, people often use the word
justice when they mean vengeance or have divine judgement on the brain. I am
sure he means something closer to sanctification.
In his
letter, Paul expresses a desire to know Christ and “the power flowing from his
resurrection” as well as how to share in his sufferings. His faith in Christ
allows him to focus on the future, the prize of God’s finish line, without the
human instinct to ruminate or indulge in self-pity.
What is
inside me or any of us that might cause us difficulty in perceiving the grace
of God? Could it be the urge to be a
distinct individual? The ego or sense of self is sometimes described as that
part of you which knows, remembers, desires and suffers. Any one of these
elements has the potential to cause a lot of noise or interference. Paul has
managed to take each element of this definition and place Christ at the center.
How did he do that?
Q: Am I focused on the prize at
the end of life or am I focused on things of my world?
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