Fifth Sunday of Lent

Homily Video

Fifth Sunday of Lent Homily Transcript

This little five year old boy, Joey is in the backyard digging a hole. The old man next door says, “Hey Joey, what are you doing?”, and Joey says, “My goldfish died and I’m burying it”. “Oh my deepest sympathy Joey”, and the elderly guy said, “But Joey, why is the hole so big?”, and little Joey says, “Because my dead goldfish is inside your dad cat”.

The call of God in our own lives will often lead us to a point where we may ask, what am I doing or why me Lord or what’s the use I keep on failing anyway. Such reactions and questions are not only normal and understandable but they also can be prayerful. As some of our purposes and dreams are shattered, we are forced to go deeper and deeper into the mystery and into the life of Christ.

We cannot avoid the cross in the life of Jesus or in the life of our own. The most important instruction I learned from his image of the Lord is the outstretched arms and open hands and I kind of surrender openness and ultimate letting. The cross is not the end. The cross is the way. May we feel like the airline pilot who told the people on the plane that he had good news and bad news. The bad news that they were terribly lost, the good news, they were making wonderful time.

Sometimes we are running the race but are we in the right direction. Jesus replied into today’s Gospel that the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. Jesus is saying that all of us have sinned and if we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves. Instead of pointing a finger at other people and condemning them as sinners, we should first point a finger at our lives, acknowledging our own sinfulness.

Know this, every time you point a finger at someone, three of your own fingers are coming right back at you. Every time you point a finger at someone, three of your own fingers are coming right back at you. A 105 year old woman was asked the secret of her longevity and Betsy said, “If you have to decide am I going to change the world, am I going to change me”. If your heart is not open, not forgiving, treat it like a door, break it open because sometimes we must break down in order to break through. Change the world by first beginning to change ourselves.

Readings

First Reading:

Isaiah 43:16-21

Second Reading:

Philippians 3:8-14

Gospel:

John 8:1-11 (36)

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