FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Sunday, April 10

Jeremiah 23:16-32

Psalms 118, 145

1 Corinthians 9:19-27

Mark 8:31-9:1

Today’s reading from Mark is positioned between two of the great revelations of Jesus’ glory in the Gospels: Peter’s declaration of Jesus as the Christ and the Transfiguration of Jesus witnessed by Peter, James and John. But before the disciples see Christ in his transfigured splendor, Jesus presents another vision of the Messiah- one of great suffering and humiliating, painful death. Peter’s reaction to this vision of the Kingdom is much less accepting. Jesus rebukes him vehemently for this, because Peter is not thinking with God in mind, but rather has “in mind the things of men.”

Jesus teaches in this reading that living in His Kingdom means a different kind of new life than what many Jews expected the Messiah to bring for Israel. Jesus tells his followers that if they want to experience the glory of Christ, they must find it in sacrifice and complete giving of themselves to God. “Whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.” He prepares his disciples not only for His rejection and suffering, but also for the hard road ahead for his followers.

He adds: “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power.” No doubt, few who heard Jesus’ words that day expected to witness the power of the Kingdom, not in visions of brilliant beauty, but instead in Jesus’ crucifixion and in their own later sufferings for their faith. Yet many chose to so closely follow Jesus, that they also sacrificed themselves completely for Christ, and by extension, for us.

The Psalmist tells us “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.” Jesus knew that His calls in His suffering would bring him to the Father’s Kingdom and He urges us to find the Kingdom not with “visions from our own mind” but with words from “the mouth of God.” As Christians today, most of us are truly blessed in that we can give ourselves to God without having to suffer greatly for our faith. So as we begin the last week of Lent, it is good to have this reminder from Mark that we are closest to Christ’s glory in sacrifice, surrender of self and in shamelessly following Him. As Paul explains: “I make myself a slave….of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” Giving our lives to God brings us the gift of Easter.

Karen Montgomery

Saturday, April 9

Jeremiah 23:9-15

Psalms 33, 102, 108

Romans 9:1-18

John 6:60-71

The passage in Jeremiah makes us realize that when we feel weak and discouraged, especially in a materialistic world where so many people with great gifts misuse and waste what God has given, we’re not alone. God’s promise is that with His help, we’ll rise above our weaknesses and make a positive difference. He gives us all sorts of ways to connect.

The first Psalm tells us to praise God with harp, lute and trumpet. Today, we use guitar, piano, organ, and trumpet on feast days, but most especially we use our voices. Singing His praises makes us happy in the here and now, and most importantly, it shows our gratitude and thankfulness for His goodness.

Next, reading Psalm 102 is like telling a dear friend how much we’re hurting and having our dear friend God reply, “I know how bad you feel.” He does know all things, understands us, and loves us, our true comforter.

St. Paul in Romans 9 shows us the difference between the professed Christian and the real believer. The professed Christian may have many material benefits, but nothing of the spirit. On the other hand, people who seem to have nothing, who are hungry, sick, or lonely, may be the ones who have everything because they have a different kind of blessing, that of God’s grace. None of us ever deserves this grace, but when we receive it, can only thank God.

The last passage in John shows us how people respond in different ways to God’s message: some find it too hard, and some stay with it. It reminds us of the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” One of the hardest things in life is to see that status, money, and prestige do nothing for us. Ultimately, God’s acceptance of us has nothing to do with what we achieve, but rather with our obeying His laws and keeping Him first in our hearts. Our parents used to tell us, “It’s easy to be nice, but good is difficult.” This passage tells us to allow ourselves to be transformed: Give in, let God.

Ian and Elizabeth Bremner

Friday, April 8

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Psalm 107

Romans 8:28-39

John 6:52-59

Jeremiah 23’s first 8 verses hold great comfort for us; for no matter how lost or discouraged we might feel, we can see that God will always be with us. With His help, we’ll be saved from our sins and from ourselves. We know that through Christ’s death and expiation of our sins, we can be sure of salvation.

Psalm 107 assures us that God is faithful and will hear whenever we call for help. We have His promise that when we live according to His commandments, we’ll overcome our difficulties. In turn, our obligation is to thank him for all our blessings. It’s so easy to pray for help in times of worry and trouble, but we forget to say thank you to God when our pain goes away or the situation we’re praying for is resolved. Those prayers of thanksgiving are as important as our cries for help. So the message of the Psalm is two-fold: Call upon God in our troubles, and thank Him for His help.

The passage in Romans 8 tells us that He is not a remote God. All of our struggles in life and all the agonies we suffer are part of His plan. How do we respond to our troubles? Pray, yes, and trust; for St. Paul says, “If God is on our side, who can be against us?” We know that His love is boundless, since He gave His son who died for us. Therefore, nothing can separate us from His love. Live confidently!

In John 6, we find the words, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you can have no life in you.” Yes, we eat His flesh and drink His blood in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, but moreover we must take Jesus into our lives and make Him part of ourselves, taking on His way of thinking and living, letting Him take over our desires, our very personalities, every day and every minute. Very, very hard, but that’s what Lent is all about!

Elizabeth and Ian Bremner

Thursday, April 7

Jeremiah 22:13-23
Psalms 69, 73
Romans 8:12-27
John 6:41-51

The Readings for today spell out one message to me – beware of arrogance and self-centeredness. Jeremiah warns of it in his passage – “I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.” The Psalms continue with the same theme – “You know my folly” – and “Therefore pride is their necklace.” In Romans Paul warns that – “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires.” John’s Gospel tells of Jesus being scoffed at by arrogant Jews – “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say ‘I came down from Heaven’?”

Arrogance is a deadly sin; it pits the arrogant against all that God created in the world for good. Its message is ME, ME, ME, it’s all about ME. Well, really it isn’t, the best one can ask for is to be used in all one’s ordinary and sinful self to do just a little of His work. Then one, perhaps, can have a quiet moment of the peace that passes all understanding.

John McGarvey

Wednesday, April 6

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Psalms 101, 109, 119:121-144

Romans 8:1-11

John 6:27-40

John 6:27-40

In this reading is one of Jesus’ most profound “I am” statements … “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Continually during his ministry, making these seemingly outrageous pronouncements about himself led to his being crucified.

But bread is so basic to our lives; perhaps that is why Jesus referenced it so often. Just prior to this “I am” statement the feeding of the 5,000 occurred where bread and fish were the meal to feed all those who came to hear and to see Jesus who knew both their physical and spiritual hunger. And we all know the story of the Israelites wandering in the desert for so many years, desperately hungry at one point, and God provided “bread from Heaven,” manna, to feed and restore both body and soul, renewing their faith to continue to journey to the promised land.

Today, at Holy Communion, we are also fed “bread from Heaven,” refreshing, restoring, and nourishing us. When we reach out for the bread, God is also reaching out to us. For me, the prayer of humble access says it best: “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under they table. But thou are the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.”

Virginia McGarvey